{"id":294915,"date":"2024-01-14T13:04:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T12:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294915"},"modified":"2024-01-14T13:04:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-14T12:04:57","slug":"a-federal-power-grid-would-be-everyones-worst-nightmare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294915","title":{"rendered":"A Federal Power Grid Would be Everyone\u2019s Worst Nightmare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Gordon Tomb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a cold snap in December 2022 caused widespread power outages, central planners eagerly called upon the federal government to play a larger role in our power grids to minimize deadly blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The left-wing Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)<\/a> dubbed the United States the only country \u201cwithout a plan.\u201d The electric system\u2019s \u201cfragmented planning framework is highly problematic because the power grid is under growing stress from climate change-related extreme weather,\u201d claimed RMI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reuters published a lengthy special report<\/a> about a \u201ccreaky grid\u201d hampering wind and solar energy. The piece lamented how the federal government \u201clacks the authority to push through the massive grid expansion and modernization needed to withstand wilder weather and accommodate EVs and renewable power.\u201d Furthermore, the article described the U.S. grid as \u201ca Byzantine web of local, state, and regional regulators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be sure, current grid management is far from perfect. The North American Electric Reliability Corp recently reported<\/a> that more than half of the U.S. population is at risk of outages during frigid winters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, turning the electric system over to federal bureaucrats would be like making a vandal the property manager of an apartment complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal government\u2019s overzealous environmental regulations and quasi-religious commitment to \u201cgreen\u201d energy have significantly contributed to grid reliability issues. And these problems are increasingly manifesting as life-threatening and costly blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voters, consumers, and lawmakers should be skeptical of seemingly reasonable recommendations for \u201cbetter planning and coordination\u201d among the dozen regional power grids\u2014especially when they demand increased federal oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, RMI suggested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) require \u201cboth a minimum amount of inter-regional transfer capability and a robust inter-regional planning process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, inter-regional power sharing and planning already exist, and the real impetus for increasing federal involvement is the \u201cgreen\u201d agenda to add more wind and solar to the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, we are already heading in the wrong direction, moving from stable, always-available power sources (e.g., coal, gas, and nuclear) toward unreliable wind and solar. This transition\u2014imposed by subsidies and government fiat\u2014is straining the nation\u2019s electrical grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our federal bureaucracy has undermined the integrity of the power grid by forcing early retirements of reliable coal-fired power plants. Targeted by federal and state regulators hostile to coal, the Homer City power station, Pennsylvania\u2019s largest plant, closed last July<\/a>. Two more, the Pittsburgh-area Keystone and Conemaugh plants<\/a>, will shut down in the next four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal meddling in energy markets also includes the proliferation of \u201cgreen\u201d energy subsidies. These subsidies\u2019 corrosive influence dilutes the original mission of power grids, such as the PJM Interconnection serving Pennsylvania and 12 other states, according to former FERC official James Danly<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Energy] markets have become something closer to a mechanism by which to harvest \u2026 subsidies, rather than what they were intended to do, which is ensure least-cost dispatch of available resources and to incentivize new investment,\u201d said Danly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will make matters worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the most part, [grids] have embraced the goal of economic efficiency,\u201d writes Travis Fisher, the director of energy and environmental policy studies at the Cato Institute<\/a>. \u201cHowever, some \u2026 have begun to include the \u2018clean\u2010energy transition\u2019 and \u2018environmentally sustainable power system\u2019 in their mission statements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisher\u2019s worry: \u201cThe IRA will push [grids] further into a new era in which the goal of economic efficiency [i.e., affordable energy] is secondary to environmental goals or ignored entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some state lawmakers want to head the federal government off at the pass. After several hearings, Pennsylvania\u2019s Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee recently proposed an Independent Energy Office<\/a> to sort out the complex issues of the commonwealth\u2019s energy landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undoubtedly, there is much to do in the Keystone State, one of the nation\u2019s largest energy producers. Pennsylvania\u2019s elected officials must bolster the management of the life-sustaining electric system and increase access to affordable, reliable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, policymakers concerned about grid reliability should be wary of increased federal intrusion. What may be a dream come true for central planners ought to be everybody else\u2019s nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commentary was first published at Delaware Valley Journal<\/a> on January 12, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon\u00a0Tomb<\/a>\u00a0is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania\u2019s free-market think tank, and a Senior Advisor with the CO2 Coalition in Arlington, VA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a cold snap in December 2022 caused widespread power outages, central planners eagerly called upon the federal government to play a larger role in our power grids to minimize deadly blackouts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":294917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"When a cold snap in December 2022 caused widespread power outages, central planners eagerly called upon the federal government to play a larger role in our power grids to minimize deadly blackouts.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691826262,691818618,691818820,691818580,691819094,691826263],"class_list":{"0":"post-294915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-deadly-blackouts","9":"tag-energy-transition","10":"tag-inflation-reduction-act-ira","11":"tag-power-grid","12":"tag-renewable-green-energy","13":"tag-rocky-mountain-institute-rmi","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0cropped-Cold-Snaps-and-Climate-Change-2000x834-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C834&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1eIH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":423594,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423594","url_meta":{"origin":294915,"position":0},"title":"Storm Ferm: Remember Uri (centrally planned electricity \u2018transition\u2019 in Texas)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The current cold snap (\u201cwhere is global warming when you need it?\u201d) makes timely a review of the Texas electricity debacle of February 2021. 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The report got lots of publicity, including this piece flagged by our own Climate Depot, titled \u201cReport: Deadly Summer Blackouts Inevitable As Renewables\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/00NYC-Blackout.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/00NYC-Blackout.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/00NYC-Blackout.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/00NYC-Blackout.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/00NYC-Blackout.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/00NYC-Blackout.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":295346,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=295346","url_meta":{"origin":294915,"position":4},"title":"Rolling Blackouts Narrowly Avoided In\u00a0Alberta","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A critical emergency alert was issued on Saturday evening urging Albertans to reduce electricity use to minimize potential outages across the province.","rel":"","context":"In \"Alberta\"","block_context":{"text":"Alberta","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=alberta"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":202259,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=202259","url_meta":{"origin":294915,"position":5},"title":"Blackout Blame Shifting: Wind & Solar Collapses Responsible for Unplanned Power Outages","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"31\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Wind and solar generators happily take credit when the sun\u2019s up and the wind\u2019s blowing, but dodge all criticism when blackouts follow sunset and\/or calm weather. The standard trick is to point in every direction \u2013 except the obvious \u2013 when power rationing (euphemistically called \u201cdemand management\u201d) or unplanned power\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/00Screenshot-2022-05-31-101111.png?fit=1052%2C709&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/00Screenshot-2022-05-31-101111.png?fit=1052%2C709&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/00Screenshot-2022-05-31-101111.png?fit=1052%2C709&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/00Screenshot-2022-05-31-101111.png?fit=1052%2C709&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/00Screenshot-2022-05-31-101111.png?fit=1052%2C709&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=294915"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294919,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294915\/revisions\/294919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/294917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=294915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=294915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=294915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}