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Grid monitor warns of blackout risks as coal plants retire
Grid monitor warns of blackout risks as coal plants retire
By Peter Behr | 12/14/2023 06:37 AM EST
Rolling blackouts are a rising threat across the U.S. as aging power grids collide with extreme weather, rising electricity demand and a shift to cleaner fuels, the nation’s top grid monitor warned Wednesday.
In a report, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said most regions of the country face growing risks of inadequate electricity supplies during periods of extreme cold and heat over the coming decade. Major wind and solar power projects that could serve metropolitan areas aren’t being built fast enough as power companies shut down old coal plants.
The findings are stirring up a debate about whether state regulators — and the Department of Energy — should slow down retirements of fossil fuel generation. ... The projected power shortfall is being exacerbated by a technology-driven U.S. economy.
NERC noted a sharp ramp-up in power demand from the spread of data centers and crypto mining and sales of electric vehicles. All of those segments of the economy are growing faster than electricity generation and transmission that could serve them, according to NERC.
{snip}
By Peter Behr | 12/14/2023 06:37 AM EST
Rolling blackouts are a rising threat across the U.S. as aging power grids collide with extreme weather, rising electricity demand and a shift to cleaner fuels, the nation’s top grid monitor warned Wednesday.
In a report, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said most regions of the country face growing risks of inadequate electricity supplies during periods of extreme cold and heat over the coming decade. Major wind and solar power projects that could serve metropolitan areas aren’t being built fast enough as power companies shut down old coal plants.
The findings are stirring up a debate about whether state regulators — and the Department of Energy — should slow down retirements of fossil fuel generation. ... The projected power shortfall is being exacerbated by a technology-driven U.S. economy.
NERC noted a sharp ramp-up in power demand from the spread of data centers and crypto mining and sales of electric vehicles. All of those segments of the economy are growing faster than electricity generation and transmission that could serve them, according to NERC.
{snip}
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