The deregulated electric power market is still a work in progress, and will be for some years to come. Like claim jumpers in a gold rush town, a few tried to gain a quick buck from an immature system. A more sensible approach, however, is to maximize the productivity of existing assets in order to produce real value. One approach that is gaining favor is to leverage existing equipment to economically participate in the synchronous condensing and spinning reserve markets. "For a generator who is not currently providing spinning, the new market offers the possibility of an additional revenue stream," says Stu Bresler, Manager of Market Development for PJM, a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) based in Valley Forge, Pa., speaking of PJM's new spinning reserve market, which opened for business in December 2002. Commonwealth Chesapeake Power LLC and PSE&G, for example, have taken advantage of this revenue opportunity by adding synchronous clutches to new gas turbine generators.
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