Study warns electric grid could face #blackouts by 2028
A new study warns that the Biden administration-backed push to electrify America’s economy is on a collision course with its policy of retiring “base load” power plants as part of its green agenda.
As a result, the study conducted by Quanta Technology finds that for America’s largest electric grid operator, “Maintaining adequate (electric) resources will be a challenge for the PJM system in the future when the grid is likely to be operating under abnormal conditions (extreme weather events, for example).”
The study, which examined several scenarios expected over the next several years, found that “the transmission security analysis shows equipment overloads that trigger as much as 6,826 megawatts of load shedding during average winter peak demand under a high retirement scenario.” The study’s “resource adequacy analysis shows a potential system loss of load of as much as 13,900 megawatts during extreme winter peak demand.” Every megawatt is between 1,000 and 1,500 homes without power. That translates to upward of 14 million customers.
The Quanta Technology study, prepared for the industry group America’s Power, found that, while PJM’s system is now stable, by 2028, the increased demand and lack of new generation will put the grid under extreme strain. At least 30 electrical facilities could overload during the summer months due to massive energy demands from new data centers coming online in the region. The outlook is even more ominous in the winter, when at least 52 power facilities could overload due to demand on the grid.
“The current pace of entry of new generation is insufficient to keep up with expected retirements and increasing load growth, and could threaten system reliability toward the end of this decade,” PJM spokesman Jeffrey Shields said. “PJM is working with stakeholders across industry and government not only to address challenges hindering the construction of new generation.
