![]() Despite these challenges, new technologies and supportive policies could ripen opportunities in 2023 and help the industry achieve its goals. Inflation, high fuel costs, and supply chain snarls may keep electricity prices elevated, while extreme weather, cybersecurity threats, and the growth of variable renewables and distributed energy resources may continue to require innovative management to ensure grid reliability. But providing secure, reliable, affordable, and clean electricity could become even more challenging. In 2023, these promising developments will likely evolve further. 2 In response, the industry and policymakers worked to bolster reserves, deploy energy storage and microgrids, harden infrastructure, and strengthen flexible load options. ![]() Extreme climate events-from droughts to hurricanes, heat waves and wildfires-continued to test regional grid resilience. 1 But costs also spiked, largely due to natural gas prices more than doubling on global shortages exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. US electricity sales continued to rise as the pandemic recovery progressed, increasing 3.6% in the first eight months compared to the prior year. resorted to rolling blackouts during a unrelenting June heat wave, leaving more than 9,000 homes and businesses without power.Electric power sector weighs promising trends amid cost and climate woesĢ022 was a year of perils and promise for the electric power sector. One notable exception was in the Pacific Northwest, where Avista Corp. In the end, most systems held up during the heat. Last year, NERC issued a warning that was nearly as grim, saying electric grids that serve more than 40% of the U.S. Wildfires amplified by the drought could darken skies with smoke, cutting the output from solar plants while simultaneously forcing homes with rooftop solar panels to rely more on the grid. It even threatens power plants that draw their cooling water from the Missouri River, which is running low, according to the report. Throughout the West, drought will limit the output from hydroelectric dams. The Hyatt Powerplant at Lake Oroville in Oroville, Calif. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News) The gas-fired plants in Texas that shut unexpectedly late last week during a spring heat wave underscore that risk, he said. The coal and natural gas plants that continue to operate are running harder, and NERC expects them to break down more often, Moura said. The region also is missing a key transmission line damaged by a December tornado, with repairs expected to wrap up in June.Įarly retirement of fossil fuel plants is an issue in other parts of the U.S. ![]() NERC had previously warned the Midwest could face power shortfalls as plants close, but not until 2024. Even when temperatures are normal, grid managers may need power from neighboring regions to keep air conditioners humming, and a heat wave or low wind speeds could trigger blackouts, according to the report. Across the region, enough older plants have shut down to cut generation capacity 2.3% since last summer. support for Ukraine following the Russian invasion, according to NERC.Įlectricity supplies will be particularly tight in the Midwest. And power grids face a growing threat of cyberattacks because of U.S. Supply chain snags, meanwhile, are delaying Southwest solar projects and Texas transmission lines, while coal plants are having trouble obtaining fuel amid increased exports. “The pace of our grid transformation is out of sync” with the physical realities of the existing power network, Moura said. But the fight against global warming poses its own risks as older coal-fired plants close faster than wind farms, solar facilities and batteries can replace them. A historic drought is covering the western U.S., limiting supplies of hydroelectric power, and forecasts call for a hotter-than-average summer.
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