Fear of heights
By 1994, system peak demand during summer in Taiwan had reached 18,610 MW; in the previous decade demand had increased at a rate of 1000 MW per year. But there are enormous differences in demand in different seasons and at different times of day.
You can be sure that whenever the newspaper headline reads "Highest Temperatures of the Year Yesterday," the accompanying story will be called "New Record in Demand for Electricity." When the temperature rises, so does the anxiety level at Taipower. They fear that demand will break previous records, that generators will shut down, and that blackouts will occur, with Taipower once again becoming the target of criticism.
Though peak-demand periods actually account for only a limited amount of time out of the whole year, it is necessary to build enough power plants to cope with this demand. At these times the generator sets must keep working continuously. But during low-demand periods, there is no way to store up the power and it simply is wasted. When winter rolls around, though you might think it offers a good chance for the machines to rest and undergo maintenance, it is economically inefficient for them to be idle for long.
Therefore reducing peak demand has become one the most important tasks for energy agencies. "Everyone in the world is trying to figure out how to lower peak demand," says Lin Yen-yen of the Energy Technical Services Center (ETSC) of China Technical Consulting, Inc.
The way to achieve this goal is through "load management." "Load" is the amount of power being used at any given moment, while "load management" refers to methods used to reduce maximum power consumption.
Smoothing out the peaks
There are many approaches to load management. For example, Taipower uses "TOU rates"--increased prices during peak periods, discounted prices at off-peak times--to encourage enterprises to adjust their electricity usage.
Another approach is to develop new technology and improve equipment in order to shift consumption. Three years ago the Ministry of Economic Affairs commissioned the ETSC to promote the installation of "ice storage central air conditioning" in factories and office buildings. These systems can turn electricity into ice in off-peak hours, and use the ice to generate cold air, so there is no need to compete with others for electricity during peak hours. Taipower offers discounted rates to those who install ice storage central air conditioning.
The most direct approach to load management is power rationing.
People who have their power turned off naturally feel cheated. Factories can't produce, computers can't be used, kitchen appliances become useless, and stuffy office buildings lose their fresh air.
Yet, if done in a planned fashion, not only can power cutoffs depress peak demand, they can create power reserves so that chaos doesn't break out if there is a real emergency leading to a generator shutdown.
Back in 1987, Taipower drew up a six-point "interruptible power program." They gave factories the option to participate in voluntary power rationing during peak periods in different seasons in exchange for more favorable rates. This is one way to ration power without antagonizing anyone. However, as one might expect, the number of factories that agree to accept power cuts is limited.
The alternative is involuntary total power cutoffs. Right now Taipower uses a system of rotating black-outs by district, but scholars see this as a "lose-lose" policy. This is because cutting off all power in a given district can impose high social costs. For example, traffic is thrown into chaos when all the stop lights go out.
A win-win approach
The best rationing reduces social costs and consumer inconvenience to a minimum. Taipower is aware that rationing methods need to be more "polished." Right now they are exploring ways to control air conditioning demand directly at the transformer substations. Without affecting the efficiency of the air conditioning, they want to control things so that air conditioners have only their fans running for fifteen minutes out of each peak hour. "This is a rationing method in which both the power company and consumers can come out ahead," says George Hsu.
Today, the responsibilities of energy-producing firms cannot stop at creating the power and sending it out over the grid. They must also cover the steps after the electricity passes the meter of each consumer. "The power company must also concern itself with how the consumers use electricity, and they must oversee the efficiency of that use," concludes Zheng Chinlong of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research.
Take for example New Zealand, with a population of only 3.5 million people. Though economic growth and power demand there are not at the level of Taiwan, New Zealand still has a rationing system. There are two power circuits for each home, one for essential items and one for non-essentials. If there is a power shortage or emergency situation, then non-essential items can be shut off directly.
Rationing electricity to luxury items when absolutely necessary can not only raise efficiency in the use of electricity, it has even more far-reaching significance: It can change the way people think about energy, so that they stop seeing it as something that "I can use any way I feel like as long as I can pay the bills" and will change the way they consume energy.
It turns out that power rationing could very well have a great deal of wisdom to it.
[Picture Caption]
p.83
"Not another blackout!" Journalists rushing to meet deadlines can only gnash their teeth. Is there no way to ration power in such a way as to lower the social costs?
p.85
The power company's management of electricity should not end with its production, transmission, and distribution. Encouraging users to reduce consumption should also be part of its brief.
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