2013年4月23日 星期二

The central importance of electricity distribution

Two U.S. senators from Kansas have renewed a push for federal legislation that would allow the state to inspect its 11 massive natural-gas storage fields.Welcome to the company profile of Nesis homeenergymonitor.

Their latest effort would allow the Kansas Corporation Commission to restart a program of inspecting the state’s storage fields, which have the capacity to store more than 270 billion cubic feet of gas.

The Kansas Legislature started requiring inspections after a 2001 incident in which gas from an underground storage cavern came to the surface through abandoned salt-water wells in Hutchinson and exploded over a two-day period. The blasts destroyed a block of downtown businesses and killed a couple in their mobile home.

The inspections stopped in 2009 after Colorado Interstate Gas successfully sued to end them, arguing its gas was in interstate transit and thus a federal responsibility.Changing tungstenbracelet from cheap Color,

But the U.S.Read Breil Milano Flowing Polished iphoneheadset. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Division has decided not to regulate or inspect underground gas storage.

Roberts and Moran made their first attempt at restoring the state’s inspection authority after learning of the situation in a 2011 story in The Eagle.

“This legislation fills a void by allowing states to step in when the federal government fails to monitor natural gas storage sites,” Moran said in a joint statement with Roberts. “Our country’s citizens should be protected from the threat of explosions, and this common-sense approach puts safety first.”

Sarah Little, an aide to Roberts, said the bill will be referred to the Senate Commerce Committee, and that the senators will be watching for a chance to offer the bill as an amendment to other energy legislation moving through Congress.

“It’s been over 10 years since we lost two lives to a gas explosion in Hutchison, and the federal government is still nowhere to be found,” Roberts said. “Inaction opens the door for a real tragedy, so we must act and put our faith in the people on the ground to protect their families,technical terms and laserengraver and disadvantages of laser engraving.Discover a sophisticated collection of tungstenjewelry including wide, friends and neighbors.”

The central importance of electricity distribution is often overlooked as attention is focused on the promise of shale gas generation, the renaissance of nuclear power or the growth of wind, solar and other forms of renewable generation. However, the efficient, reliable and cost effective distribution of electricity is vital to any society's economic prosperity and standard of living.

The structure of electricity distribution systems often has a distinctly local character based on political, geographic and economic factors. A good example is the Province of Ontario where there are currently 77 rate-regulated electricity distribution utilities – more than the combined total of all of the electricity distribution utilities in the rest of Canada. If this seems to be a large number, it should be recalled that in the late 1990's there were over 300 electricity distribution utilities in Ontario.

In April 2012, the Ontario Minister of Energy appointed the Ontario Distribution Sector Review Panel which was mandated to provide advice to the government on how to improve the efficiency of the electricity distribution sector through consolidation or other means with the aim of reducing the financial cost of electricity distribution to consumers. This article will look at the work and recommendations of the Review Panel and discuss the Panel's findings which are broadly applicable.

The Review Panel consisted of Murray Elston (Panel Chair), a former Ontario Cabinet Minister and past member of the Board of Hydro One; Floyd Laughren, a former Ontario Cabinet Minister and past Chair of the Ontario Energy Board; and me. The Panel began work in late April and over the next five months received over 80 written and/or oral submissions from a broad cross section of interested parties, including electricity distribution utilities, unions, consumer organizations, regulatory agencies, financial institutions, municipal governments, energy associations and industry experts. The Panel made it clear from the outset that it wished to focus its attention on the challenges and opportunities which will be created over the next ten years, not on solving grievances and problems of the past decade. The Panel's report was issued in December 2012.

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