Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : NNBM - SI Branch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elpolvo who wrote (42836)	4/18/2005 10:34:59 AM
From: Mannie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104191

my next sailboat's name: "blow me" I like it! you'll be needing a dinky dinghy called the "little sucker."

To: elpolvo who wrote (42836)	4/18/2005 11:08:54 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104191

Ohhh Kayyyy... PS Who is this guy, and why is he on our staff? It's blowin' so hard out there the M got flipped on the bar sign. PNM's wind farm whips up experts' attention Clay Holtzman NMBW Staff Balancing electrical supply to meet demand at a modern day utility is no easy task. Every day, controllers at the state's largest utility provider, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), anticipate and react to fluctuations in demand, supply, generation and the buying and selling of electricity on the open market to meet frequency -- industry lingo for delivering the ideal level of power that is expected by customers and mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). But when a utility must anticipate the power output from a wind farm that can deliver enough electricity for 35,000 homes one minute -- but none the next -- staying on top of things gets a little more challenging. "It's pretty much physically impossible to stay perfectly in balance," admits Daniel Zientek, director of power operations at PNM. The goal, he says, is getting as close to the necessary frequency as possible and then staying there. Since integrating wind power into its system, PNM has attracted the attention of utilities, advocacy groups and federal regulators because it succeeds in maintaining requisite frequency despite a relatively high percentage of its capacity coming from the wind farm. "We've gotten recognition from a number of wind groups and federal regulators," says Greg Miller, director of transmission development and contracts at PNM. "PNM is looked at to provide advice and consulting to many different types of entities." Those who have sought PNM's advice include groups like the FERC, the National Wind Coordinating Council and the Utility Wind Interest Group, as well as several utilities from New Mexico and the western United States. Established in 2003 and managed by Florida Light & Power Co., the New Mexico Wind Energy Center near the Texas border is one of the largest such facilities in the world and generates 204 megawatts of power, enough to supply 94,000 average New Mexico homes, all of which is sold to PNM. Balancing the integration of wind into PNM's power system is performed at PNM's control facility in Albuquerque. There, Zientek and a team of operators work in a building stuffed with so many monitors, graphic displays and satellite feeds, it resembles NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston. » Continued Page: 1 \| 2 © 2005 American City Business Journals Inc. bizjournals.com