The colder-than-normal winter expected for the U.S. this season has prompted the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, or , to issue a warning the nation鈥檚 fuel supply may not be sufficient to get us through a bitter cold winter. The warning came in NERC's 2022-2023 Winter Reliability Assessment released Thursday.
Areas at greatest risk are Texas and the middle-southern part of the U.S., where 4.2 GW of nuclear and coal-fired power generation have been retired in the past year, with few resources added, according to NERC.
Here in 不良人研究所 the winter outlook isn鈥檛 as concerning. "Buckeye Power has arranged for an adequate supply of coal to our baseload coal plants," said Pat O'Loughlin, President and CEO of Buckeye Power and 不良人研究所's Electric Cooperatives.听 "We have maintained a reliable mix of baseload, peaking and renewable generation to meet our members power supply requirements.听Buckeye however is a relatively small part of the overall power system. We represent about 1.2% of the PJM interconnection load and generation supply."
Supplies of coal are shrinking, that's because coal plants are closing at a rapid pace. O鈥橪oughlin said 15 years ago half of the nation鈥檚 power generation came from controllable resources like coal鈥攖oday it鈥檚 20%. He cautions a balanced approach towards renewables, not a race, is necessary to ensure power reliability, especially during extreme weather seasons.听
"Since 2009 不良人研究所 has gone from having 21 operating coal fired power plants with over 20,000 MW of generating capacity to 5 coal-fired power plants that are still operating in 不良人研究所 today with about 8,000 MW of generating capacity," added O'Loughlin.听 "Some newer baseload natural gas power plants have been added during this period, but only making up about half of the capacity that has been shut down. 听It is important that 不良人研究所 maintain an adequate supply of baseload generation to meet the requirements of 不良人研究所 consumers day in and day out."
NERC is closely monitoring coal and liquid fuel inventories this winter. Some states are considered highly vulnerable to extreme and prolonged cold, and load-shedding may be necessary to maintain reliability, according to NERC鈥檚 winter assessment released Thursday.
High peak-demand projections, inadequate generator weatherization, fuel supply risks, and limited natural gas infrastructure were also listed as contributing factors in NERC鈥檚 winter reliability assessment.听
Michelle Bloodworth, the President and CEO of America's Power, a partnership of industries involved in producing electricity from coal, doesn't believe NERC's warning goes far enough.听
鈥淭oday, NERC issued a warning about the risk of power outages this winter in听certain parts of the country. One of the reasons for this risk is the closure of听coal power plants. Although NERC has issued similar warnings before, coal plant听closures have not stopped. Almost 27,000 MW of coal-fired generation in 24听states are expected to retire this year and next year. More than half the coal听fleet has announced plans to retire by 2030.听
鈥淲e commend NERC for its work, but warnings are not enough. NERC, grid听operators, utility commissioners, and FERC must take steps to stop these听closures until there is certainty that coal plants will be replaced with electricity听sources that are dependable. For example, coal power plants, which have on-site coal stockpiles, are six times more dependable than wind farms, which听depend on the weather. We need to pause coal plant closures until NERC assures听us that the electricity grid is as reliable as it needs to be to withstand extreme听weather during both winter and summer.鈥