NEWS PRESENTATION | FERC-NERC-REGIONAL ENTITY JOINT INQUIRY INTO WINTER STORM ELLIOTT
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PRESENTATION | FERC-NERC-REGIONAL ENTITY JOINT INQUIRY INTO WINTER STORM ELLIOTT
HEADLINES
Presentation | FERC-NERC-Regional Entity Joint Inquiry Into Winter Storm Elliott
September 21, 202
3
A-3 | News Release
December 2022 Winter Storm Elliott Grid Operations:
Key Findings and Recommendations
FERC, NERC, and Regional Entity Joint Staff Inquiry
September 21, 2023
This information was prepared by the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in consultation with staff from the
North American Electric Reliability Corporation and its Regional Entities. This information does not necessarily reflect the vie
ws of the Commission.
2
Winter Storm Elliott’s Effects on the Bulk
-
Power System
During Worst Conditions, December 23
-
24, 2022
•
Unprecedented
electric generation outages
coincided with
winter peak electricity demands (i.e., winter peak loads)
•
Several Balancing Authorities (BAs) in the Eastern U.S.
declared Energy Emergencies, and to maintain electric grid
reliability, some in the southeastern U.S. ordered
firm load
shed
at different times, in total exceeding
5,000
MW during
the extreme cold weather:
•
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) BA
: nearly eight hours total and at its
worst point,
3,000
MW
•
Duke
Energy Carolinas (
DEC
) and Duke Energy Progress (
DEP
)
BAs
:
approximately three hours total and at worst points totaled over
1,900
MW
•
Louisville Gas and Electric
–
Kentucky Utilities (LGE
-
KU) BA
: approximately
four hours total and at its worst point, over
300
MW
•
Dominion Energy South Carolina (DESC)
and
South Carolina Public Service
Administration/Santee Cooper (SC PSA)
BAs
: at worst point totaling
94
MW
(DESC) and
86
MW (Santee Cooper), for 9 and 17 minutes
, respectively
PJM, Southern, MISO, SPP
, and
ISO
-
NE
BAs
also
declared Energy Emergencies, but conditions improved,
sparing them from the need to order firm load shed.
This information was prepared by the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in consultation with staff from the
North American Electric Reliability Corporation and its Regional Entities. This information does not necessarily reflect the vie
ws of the Commission.
Unplanned Generation Outages Increased to Historic Levels
3
(Source: NOAA)
•
The Event is the
FIFTH
in the past
11
years
in which unplanned cold weather
-related
generation outages jeopardized bulk
-power
system reliability:
o
2011
– 29,700 MW
o
2014
– 19,500 MW
o
2018
– 15,800 MW
o
2021
– 61,300 MW
o
2022
–
90,500
MW
The
90,500 MW
of incremental coincident unplanned
outages during Winter Storm Elliott
represented 13%
of
the U.S. portion of the
anticipated resources* in
the
Eastern Interconnection.
Departure from Average Daily Minimum
December 24, 2022
(*Based on data from NERC 2022
-2023 Winter Reliability Assessment)
This information was prepared by the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in consultation with staff from the
North American Electric Reliability Corporation and its Regional Entities. This information does not necessarily reflect the vie
ws of the Commission.
4
Gas Production Declined
This information was prepared by the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in consultation with staff from the
North American Electric Reliability Corporation and its Regional Entities. This information does not necessarily reflect the vie
ws of the Commission.
•
“Dry natural gas production in the Lower
48 states dropped to a low of 82.5 Bcf
on
December 24
, a
16 percent decrease
(16.1 Bcf/d) from December 21...” (EIA)
•
Gas production experienced the greatest
declines in the Marcellus and Utica
Shale formations, where it dropped by
23-
54% during The Event. (S&P)
o
“In 2022, the Appalachia region in the
Northeast produced more natural gas
than any other U.S. region, accounting for
29% of U.S. gross natural gas withdrawals
(or 34.6 Bcf/d).” (EIA)
(Source:
S&P Global Commodity Insights)
Dec 24
th
Contact Information
News Media
Email: MediaDL@ferc.gov(link sends email)
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This page was last updated on September 21, 2023
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