Brace Yourself for Coming Electricity Shortages - IER

Brace Yourself for Coming Electricity Shortages - IER

Think the U.S. electric grid is immune to blackouts? Think again.

• The PJM interconnection just reported insufficient supply of new renewable technology to meet demand as the region which consists of 13 eastern states and the District of Columbia expects to retire 21 percent of its existing generating capacity through 2030. 
• That is, fossil-fuel power plants are retiring much faster than renewable sources are being developed, which could lead to energy “imbalances” –shortages and blackouts. 
• Further, renewable sources—largely wind and solar power—are unreliable as the sun must shine and the wind must blow, which means they are operating at only a fraction of their capacity...
• PJM typically generates a surplus of power because of its current large fossil-fuel generating fleet, which it exports to neighboring grids in the Midwest and Northeast that helped to keep lights on when wind power plunged in the Midwest and central states recently...