This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on last night's storms, which dumped more than three inches of rain in the northern part of the county, including Lansing, Groton, and Dryden. We didn't seem to get anything here but thunder and lightning on the horizon.
The Journal also explores NYSEG's plans for smart metering, which will let consumers and the power company see how much power is being consumed and when. On the one hand, I'm suspicious of pretty much anything NYSEG does which might affect bills; on the other hand, I can see where flexible pricing might encourage people to install home solar panels if the smart-metering program allows for power to back into the grid at the same rates we pay for it to come out.
Solar panels generate a lot of power during that peak 2:00pm-5:00pm timeframe, and could help the utilities meet the power demand. A time-based system could make the payback time on solar panels shorter, and could also help reduce the need to build extra power plants to meet peak demand. We'll see...
Update: I missed this article on TC3's new athletic facilities.
Posted by simon at August 25, 2007 10:11 AM in Ithaca Journal , TC3 , energy , weather