The science fiction fantasy of abundant free electricity is finally coming true. Sort of. Thanks to cheap wind energy, in some parts of the country wholesale power prices are now dropping to zero or below at certain times of the day.
In West Texas electricity prices dropped to zero 11% of the time in the 12 months through May 2009, says Bernstein Research analyst Hugh Wynne. Three percent of the time in the same period, prices dropped to nothing or below in northern Illinois and New York. Overnight prices are also occasionally hitting zero in Ohio and California.
A few years ago this kind of aberrant pricing was rare. This is likely to occur more often as vast amounts of wind power come online in the next few years. It's an unintended consequence of renewable energy mandates, government subsidies and a race to build wind turbines whether or not the grid can handle the new capacity.
Wind is the cheapest way for utilities to meet the renewable energy mandates that exist in 28 states and the national mandate that may soon come from Congress...Article is longer, but I thought you might want to visit Forbes site and post comment about Syndication Inc to potential investors. Also I wonder if this is why T. Boone Pickens decided not to install his wind turbines in Texas. Stockinvestor
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
