-- This is a MathPad 2.5.2 document. MathPad is a general purpose graphing calculator for the Macintosh computer. MathPad's web site is . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: These are some calculations of electricity costs. Assuming we were to generate electricity by burning refined gasoline, instead of the cheaper fuels like natural gas, how much would the gasoline need to cost to justify the price of the electricity generated? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- 1 Joule is 1 Watt second. -- 1 kilowatt hour is 3.6 million Joules. kWh = 1000 * 60 * 60 kWh:3.60e6-- [J] -- 1 kg gasoline yeilds about 45 million Joules when fully combusted in air. jPerKg = 45e6 -- [J/kg] -- The relative density of gasoline compared to water is... density = 0.75 -- [relative to water] -- 1 gallon of water is 8 pounds and there are 2.2 pounds per kilogram so 1 gallon of gasoline is then about this many kilograms... kgPerGal = 8 * density / 2.2 kgPerGal:2.73-- [kg/gal] -- The energy content of of gasoline is then... content = jPerKg * kgPerGal content:123e6-- [J/gal] -- With a generator to consumer system efficiency of about 25%, INCLUDING generation and transmission, the energy yeild of gasoline is then... eff = 0.25 yeild = eff * content yeild:30.7e6-- [J/gal] -- If electricity costs $5 per kWH as per Feinstein's warning of impending summer costs then we have the following cost equivalent: costElec = 5 -- [$/kWh] costFuel = costElec * yeild / kWh costFuel:42.6-- [$/gal equiv.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- If, on the other hand, the cost of electricity is the typical residential rate of $0.11 per kWH then we have a different cost equivalent: costElec:= 0.11: costFuel:= costElec * yeild / kWh: costFuel:938e-3-- [$/gal equiv.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ On Friday 01.05.18 the SF Chronicle reported that recently electricity prices had gone as high as $1,900 per MWh as follows: "The plant shutdowns are a key factor in the soaring power prices, which have gone from $200 in December to as high as $1, 900 a megawatt hour last week." [ "Probe finds 'artificial' shortages Unneeded plant shutdowns drove up state electricity prices, PUC chief says" Chuck Squatriglia, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, May 18, 2001 ] ~ -- Let's do the calc with that as input: costElec:= 1900 / 1000:-- [$/kWh] costFuel:= ( costElec / 3.6M ) * yeild: costFuel:16.2-- [$/gal equiv.] -- This wholesale price figure is roughly 10 times the retail price of gasoline. A price like this has nothing to do with supply and demand and is a pure reflection of market manipulation. What is wrong with the regulatory folks that they can allow this to happen?