"Smart new meters to cut power"
7th February 2006
Nigel Wilson (of The Australian) wrote an article written to coincide with the COAG Meeting on Friday 10th February 2006 (Smart new meters to cut power) about the introduction of smart meters to residential customers.
At the end of this article, Nigel highlighted how the summer of 2005-2006 generated high demand for electricity - such as in the period quoted of 2nd February 2006, when electricity demand in Queensland and NSW exceeded the total available capacity across both regions (a reasonably rare occurrence, given the large surplus of capacity enjoyed by QLD at the time), and with the balance of power being supplied from the Snowy region.
For further detail, please see the snapshot of the market, as it was operating on 2nd February 2006, highlighting the extreme prices being experienced at the time in Queensland and NSW at the time, as a result of the local shortage of capacity. The snapshot was taken from NEM-WatchTM.
To read the article, please see either:
1) The news release online at The Australian; or
2) A PDF copy of the release.
Note that this same incident was also referenced several days earlier in the Age.
The events surrounding the price spike on the 2nd February 2006 have been illustrated in more detail with screenshots from NEM-ReviewTM and NEM-WatchTM in an article at WattClarity.com.au - our electricity market blog:
2nd February 2006 - Price spike in NSW and Queensland
http://wattclarity.com.au/Public/Article.aspx?aid=6
Interestingly, NEMMCO had been forecasting, for a number of weeks beforehand, that the supply/demand balance would be tight on that particular day (2nd February 2006) - as shown through our NEMforecastTM software package, and as described in this WattClarity article:
2nd February 2006 - NEMMCO's forecast from 17th January
http://wattclarity.com.au/Public/Article.aspx?aid=7