

Why Texas Will Resist the Call for a Unified Smart Grid - cwan
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4333893.html

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tokenadult
"'If you go to either of the other two grids you've got to get 20-something
state utility commissions to agree on something,' B.J. Stanbery, the founder
of the Austin-based solar manufacturer HelioVolt, says. 'In Texas, we've only
got one to persuade. Now, that's a big benefit.' As a result, Texas has, in
very short order, erected enough wind turbines to become the national leader
in wind-energy production--by a wide margin."

It was surprising to learn this fact in the article about how the regulatory
environment influences innovation in energy production. I expected a
completely different spin from the article title.

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wglb
For internal economic reasons, Texas may not want to export electricity. To do
so would bring it under federal regulation, and additional taxes.

This reminds me of Andy Grove's article [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/07...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071102549.html). Most thought-provoking
was about foreign dependence: _Electricity can be transported only over land.
Consequently, it will stay in (or stick to) the continent where it is
produced._

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peoplerock
?Transported only over land?

Apparently Seimans plans to overcome the wetness of the Mediterranean:

<http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091015-714009.html>

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billswift
In any large scale (ie, too large for social sanctions to work) cost or risk
sharing system, the careful and competent get screwed over to benefit the
sloppy and stupid. Large scale insurance schemes were where I first noticed
this. And during one of the French Republics, Bastiat wrote in his classic
"The State"; "Government is that great fictitious entity by which everyone
seeks to live at the expense of everyone else."

