This interactive map shows the Utility Service Territories in New York State, including that of National Grid, Rochester Gas and Electric, NYS Electric and Gas, Central Hudson Gas and Electric, Orange and Rockland Utilities, Long Island Power Authority, Consolidated Edison and municipal utilities.
"Albany Steam Power Station first began operations in 1952 as a coal-fired station and was converted to oil in 1970. It was further modified in 1981 for natural gas and became a 400MW oil and natural gas-fired power plant. The BEC has cut emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxide by 90%, and reduced sulphur dioxide emissions by 94%. The BEC generates 50% less waste heat than the Albany Steam Station and has reduced air emissions by at least 95%."
"The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment (Siting Board) has announced approval of plans to make hardware and software changes at the Bethlehem Energy Center in Glenmont that are designed to help improve the plant’s energy efficiency. The petition was submitted by the plant’s owner, PSEG Power New York LLC. The approved changes will allow for the replacement of certain components of the three combustion turbines and certain changes to related software programs. The equipment being replaced are components of the combustion turbines themselves. According to the Siting Board, the upgrades will result in very little, if any, impact on the environment or the surrounding community, and will not result in any increase in air emissions from the facility."
10,551 BTU or 3.1 kW of coal or 7,732 BTU or 2.3 kW of natural gas to produce 1 kilowatt of electricity, which is equal to 3,412 BTU.
With fossil generation, it takes quite a bit more kWh of the fossil fuel burned to turn into usable electricity. It took roughly 4.65 kWh worth of coal to make the 1.5 kWh of electricity, as it fossil fuels have significant losses due to the inefficiency in converting coal or oil into electricity.
How much does your 120 volt plug-in electric heater in your house use when it’s on? It doesn’t really matter whether it’s a $12 Walmart heater fan, or a $300 radiant heater in a fancy wood cabinet. All are same energy efficiency – when you apply resistance to electricity, 100% becomes heat, including the heat produced by the fan coils or indicator lights.
All 120-volt heaters are 1.5 kW or 5,118 BTU, because 120-volt wall outlets can only supply 12.5 amp constantly. In theory, you could make a space heater smaller then 1,500 watts but nobody does because electric coils are cheap to manufacture, and when you are warm, the thermostat just shuts off.
So every hour a heater heater is operating, it’s 1.5 kWh.
I find it oddly fascinating that in the split phase electricity system used in the United States, the only power that flows on the neutral wire back to the center tap of the pole transformer is the difference in amperage between the phases.
So if you have …
20 amp draw on the Phase A
30 amp draw on Phase B
You’ll have 10 amp flowing on the neutral, which is also referenced to the ground
If you disconnect the neutral from the center tap of the transformer, the 20 amp load will work okay but the 30 amp circuit will see its voltage cut by 1/3rd.
America has three electrical grids that are not synchronized to each other, and can not move alternating current electricity between one and another.
Generally speaking, a power plant in Oklahoma can't send electricity to most of Texas or Colorado.
Each grid was built separately and are incompatible with each other, although a limited amount of electricity can be moved between the interconnections using AC to DC to AC conversion. But such conversion is complicated and expensive, and isn't as simple as stringing lines between the grids.
The split phase system in America is a bit confusing but actually it's kind of ingenious in the sense that no wire has more than a 120 volt potential to ground. But it turns out there is more than meets the eye - the nuetral line actually carries any current not equal between the two phases back to the transformer - and if it's disconnected only the lowest amperage of the two phases will work. Fascinating stuff.
