Blake Shaffer

Robson Fletcher @robsonfletcher.bsky.social [ View ] Mar 13, 2024 at 16:12 UTC

Alberta used to get the majority of its electricity from coal. Today, only two dedicated coal plants remain. And hourly data shows the grid got ZERO power from those plants for about half the day on Feb. 2, 2024. That's gotta be the first coal-free period for the province in decades, I imagine?

2 replies 9 reposts 27 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Mar 13, 2024 at 17:15 UTC

It is!

0 replies 0 reposts 4 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Mar 13, 2024 at 04:33 UTC

Slowly at first, then all at once. Long-dominant coal power in Alberta starting to hit zero.

0 replies 2 reposts 17 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 26, 2024 at 02:17 UTC

📢CALL FOR PAPERS📢

Very pleased to announce the 3rd Annual Electricity Camp in the Rockies, May 22-24, in Banff!

If you're interested in presenting, please email me your extended abstract or paper by Feb 15.

Attendee registration will begin in March.

www.nzeri.ca/electricity-...

0 replies 5 reposts 11 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 08, 2024 at 17:34 UTC

No, but I think I’ll put out a little descriptive paper on this and other EV charging and driving data soon.

1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 08, 2024 at 16:48 UTC

This is from some field experimental Calgary data from 2022. About 50,000 trips. Fuel efficiency vs temperature mapping:

1 replies 0 reposts 7 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 05, 2024 at 16:26 UTC

Hello BlueSky, I’m looking for 🇯🇵 suggestions! I’m headed to Japan in April. Thinking classic Tokyo-Hakone-Kyoto-Hiroshima 2wk route. Open to other ideas Reply with your favourite Japanese things to do, places to stay/eat, etc

1 replies 1 reposts 3 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 14, 2023 at 18:37 UTC

Last thing on this. The City is Calgarians, Calgarians are the City. A volatile LAF just shifts $ between ratepayers and city coffers... with one important note: The City can hedge their power costs; Calgarians cannot hedge their LAF exposure. Too late, but still worth changing. /fin

0 replies 0 reposts 0 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 14, 2023 at 18:37 UTC

So *now* they're ready to discuss changing the LAF precisely when energy prices are forecast to fall!

For a council that talks a lot about affordability, this was too slow, #yyccc

1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 14, 2023 at 18:36 UTC

As a reminder, Calgary sets a local access fee (a "franchise fee" in lieu of property taxes on electricity distribution infrastructure) as a percentage of the (very volatile) energy price.

When energy prices popped these past 2 years, so too did the LAF.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 14, 2023 at 18:36 UTC

Next Tues (Dec 19) Calgary city council will debate changes to the Local Access Fee behind closed doors. After a year of dithering when it was needed, any change (though still long term useful) will have come too late. 1/4

1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 13, 2023 at 18:29 UTC

Is there anything worse than reviewing papers with “tables and figures at end of paper”? *hairpull.gif*

2 replies 0 reposts 5 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Nov 30, 2023 at 19:12 UTC

Alberta's extended period of high power prices is in its last gasps. December regulated prices were just posted ~20c/kWh. That will persist until March, when the choice between "fix or float" will no longer have an obvious answer. More supply coming online, some owned outside the Big 3, helping.

0 replies 3 reposts 6 likes

Blake Shaffer @blakeshaffer.bsky.social [ View ] Nov 23, 2023 at 13:32 UTC

This is where I struggle with it. How will bid evaluations tradeoff price vs value across different technologies? Does the lowest revenue floor bid win out? What if it doesn’t come with same reliability attributes? Also politics of eligibility selection…

0 replies 0 reposts 0 likes