Global warming, climate change, all these things are just a dream come true for politicians. I deal with evidence and not with frightening computer models because the seeker after truth does not put his faith in any consensus. The road to the truth is long and hard, but this is the road we must follow. People who describe the unprecedented comfort and ease of modern life as a climate disaster, in my opinion have no idea what a real problem is.
Leading energy chief executives argue a coal safety net to smooth the exit away from fossil fuel generation will keep the supply of power reliable and affordable, as 2030 climate targets are frustrated by the insufficient pace of new sources of renewables and transmission.
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He said that in almost every aspect – whether social licence, the rising cost of capital and the need to attract skilled people to deliver the build-out – the situation had gone backwards in the last 18 months.
“That doesn’t mean the output has to be as high as coal-fired generators have been in the past, but it does mean that we see a transitional role and don’t just turn off and just expect that you can solve all weather conditions without the tools.”
Please understand folks, these aren’t long term coal plants which are being proposed, they are temporary coal plants, which will be switched off just as soon as the battery backup is ready.
The U.S. grid faces major reliability challenges, according to members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission who used the word 34 times in their prepared testimony Thursday at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission commissioners speak at a May 4, 2023, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. Retrieved from Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The U.S. grid faces major reliability challenges, according to members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission who used the word 34 times in their prepared testimony Thursday at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.
There is a “looming reliability crisis in our electricity markets,” FERC Commissioner James Danly said.
“The United States is heading for a very catastrophic situation in terms of reliability,” FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said.
FERC Acting Chairman Willie Phillips said, “We face unprecedented challenges to the reliability of our nation’s electric system.”
Christie said the main problem is that power plants are being retired at a faster pace than they’re being replaced, pointing to estimates from the PJM Interconnection.
About 40 GW, or 21% of PJM’s installed capacity, is at risk of retiring by 2030, the largest U.S. grid operator said in a Feb. 24 report. PJM expects only 15.1 GW to 30.6 GW of accredited capacity to come online by 2030.
“The arithmetic doesn’t work,” Christie said. “This problem is coming. It’s coming quickly. The red lights are flashing.”
Increasing transmission capability was discussed.
Also, new transmission could help ease reliability problems, according to Phillips.
“Transmission plays a critical role in facilitating the interconnection of new resources, while ensuring that the electric system remains reliable,” he said.
The points made during the commisioners’ testimony was disputed by Environmental Organizations.
Danly’s criticism of subsidies for renewable energy was off base, according to Devin Hartman, director of Energy and Environmental Policy at the R Street Institute, a free market-oriented public policy research group.
“Capacity markets secure sufficient levels of capacity irrespective of subsidy levels, but they cannot procure resources that governments prevent from being built or retained,” he said.
Also, utility integrated resource planning in RTOs can cause reliability problems, according to Hartman.
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