By Doug Sheridan
Utility Dive writes, “the US grid faces major "reliability" challenges,”:according to members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Utility Dive writes, the US grid faces major "reliability" challenges, according to members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. They collectively used the word 34 times in their prepared testimony at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing last week. Here's a sampling...
- There is a “looming *reliability* crisis in our electricity markets,” FERC Commissioner James Danly said.
- “The United States is heading for a very catastrophic situation in terms of *reliability*,” FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said.
- FERC Acting Chairman Willie Phillips said, “We face unprecedented challenges to the *reliability* of our nation’s electric system.”
One major problem is that power plants are being retired at a faster pace than they’re being replaced. For example, about 40 GW—or 21% of PJM’s installed capacity—is at risk of retiring by 2030. It expects only 15.1 GW to 30.6 GW of accredited capacity is expected to come online by 2030.
Phillips said he is “extremely” concerned about the pace of power plant retirements. “This is something that we have to keep a careful eye on,” he said, noting that FERC needs to work on the issue with states, which have authority over resource adequacy.
Reliability problems are driven by two main issues—faulty capacity markets and a dearth of gas pipelines, noted Christie. During Winter Storm Elliott in December, PJM was on the brink of rolling blackouts when a large number of gas-fired power plants failed to run, partly because they couldn’t get fuel.
Danly argued the culprit is subsidized renewable energy, which he contends undermines the economics of coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants in organized markets.
“FERC has allowed the markets to fall prey to the price distorting and warping effects of subsidies and public policies that have driven the advancement of large quantities of intermittent renewable resources onto the electric system,” Danly noted.
To Sum It Up: “The arithmetic doesn’t work,” one FERC commissioner said. “This problem is coming. It’s coming quickly. The red lights are flashing.”
Our Take: What's notable is that both Republican and Democratic commissioners are sounding the alarm regarding grid reliability. The question now is how bad will things be allowed to get before reason wins out and something's done to reverse out the damage that been done through years of terrible policy?