In order to coincide with Earth Day, celebrated globally on April 22, the California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO) opened access to information about how green the grid is via two web-based tools. The tools “make clean, green energy production transparent on an hourly and daily basisâ€, says California ISO.
One of the tools is called Today’s Wind. It provides an hour-by-hour chart showing the output of California’s major wind resource areas. It breaks down wind’s contribution to the grid at any given hour in the day. Consumers can access the tool at the Caiso website in theToday’s Outlook’s section linked from the top of the home page, where they will be able to see a real-time snapshot of the current supply and demand of power.
Renewables Watch takes a look at the broader picture, displaying the total renewable power output from the day before. It captures the megawatts produced from wind, solar, biomass, biogas, geothermal and small hydroelectricity. The daily report offers a in-depth look at the resource mix in California and charts output over the course of the day, hour-by-hour.
“This type of data has been invaluable to the ISO as we integrate more renewable resources into grid and market operations,†said ISO Vice President of Policy and Client Services Karen Edson. “We’re making this data public so people can see the significant and growing role renewable resources are playing in California.â€
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thats a pretty cool use of the web
I think this is something the entire country or better yet the world needs. It lets us all see what resources are available. I live in Kentucky where wind is not considered a valuable resource in general but this is not an absolute. We get plenty of wind in elevated areas. The charts online are misleading. Having realtime data is great.