Arbitrary Vendor Payment Policies and Their Impact on Grid Reliability

On this week’s Power Hour Alex Epstein interviews Meredith Angwin, author of Shorting the Grid, on the precariousness of today’s electric grid.

They discuss:
- Why the so-called competition of today’s electric grid is a myth.
- The strengths and weaknesses of the old regulated monopoly system.
- Why “deregulation” increased costs and regulation.
- How today’s pseudo-competitive RTO (Regional Transmission Organization) works.
- How today’s RTO system devalues reliability.
- How New England’s inability during a cold snap to provide electricity without using massive amounts of oil (and some Russian gas) is a sign of things to come.
- What policies can improve the system.
- What the average person (ratepayer) can do to make a difference.