Engineering Commons^™

Link Foundation Fellowship Report, Elisabeth A. Gilmore

Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Reports

Peak hour electricity demand is associated with wholesale electricity prices that are sometimes more than 10 times higher than in off-peak periods. During these high-demand periods congested transmission lines and insufficient generation capacity can lead to brownouts and blackouts. This problem can be especially acute in urban centers. One way to alleviate this problem is to build new peaking plants. We investigated the costs and benefits, including expenditures and adverse health effects, of using existing backup generators and battery based electrical storage facilities to meet peak load demands rather than investing in a new power plant. Using small-scale generation located …