I understand Wiki is not the difinitive source on anything but usually it provides a good start of obtaining information on unfamiliar topics. While I have not heard the term "wheeling" before does this sentance from the Wikie post make sense?
"Since prices to move power are based on congestion in transmission line networks, utilities try to charge customers more to use power during peak usage (demand) periods. This is accomplished by installing time-of-use meters to recover wheeling costs."
I have never heard of a "congested" transmission line. Is "wheeling" a different technique from standard electric power distribution?
I did know either what is the wheeling concept is now read the below text.
Wheeling is a term primarily used by power-industry professionals that
describes the third-party transportation of power on the behalf of another
utility. Because electric power systems throughout the U.S. are integrated,
transporting power cannot be done without the approval of neighboring
utilities. Philosophically, a wheeling transaction was not seen as a sanctioned
responsibility of utilities; instead, it was something that might be
accommodated as a discretionary matter. Locally franchised utilities
received regulatory approval at the state and local levels to provide service
within a designated territory. Providing power outside that service area
represented a deviation from the status quo and was often viewed in a less
than favorable light.
1
A number of events changed the nature of interconnected relationships
between utilities. The first fundamental shock to these relationships came in
1969 when the great Northeast blackout forced utilities to reexamine their
relationships with one another in order to ensure power supply reliability.
As a result of the blackout, the industry took preemptive measures* to form
the National Electric Reliability Council, which exists today as the North
American Electric Reliability Council (NERC).* This voluntary organization
typically comprised utilities and was created to pool regional power supplies
and increase power coordination for reliability purposes.
The energy crisis provided an additional shock to the relationships
between utilities, as well as utility and nonutility sources of electric power.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) required utilities
to interconnect with qualifying facilities and purchase their power at
avoided cost. If the utility were unable to purchase this power, it would be
required to wheel the power to someone who would. In addition, due to
reliability concerns of the late 1970s, PURPA allowed the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) to compel utilities to wheel power on behalf
of another utility for reliability purposes. In order for FERC to require wheeling,
there needed to be proof that the transaction was for reliability purposes,
did not have negative competitive implications for the transporting utility,
and was in the public interest.
The next significant step that
