Power is a commodity

        Last week part of the Grand Rapids Public Utilities hydro turbine generator group visited MN Power.  While we were there, we learned how electricity is bought, sold, and delivered to our houses. Kevin Lindstrom gave us some great insight into how power is distributed around the Midwest.  Every day, a power company must purchase the amount of power that their customers demand.  That power is bought and sold like a stock market and the price changes every five minutes.  The price varies with seasons and with the time of the day; the more people use, the more the price rises.  Any generator over five MW is able to be part of the network and is told when to produce by MISO, the overseeing body for the Midwest region.  The amount of energy produced is determined by the load that is demanded.   Generators are brought online based on their price and their consistency, which means that a generator that sells for less will run more, but may not make as much money as the generator that is not run all day, but charges more. One thing that I learned is that if a company could use power during off-peak times, their power bill would decrease.  I would like to thank Kevin Lindstrom and Minnesota Power for the explanation and for their time.   

Proofread by Jeremy Goodell