Expect to see findings in the recent report from regional grid operator PJM to make its way to Legislative Hall and elsewhere.
According to the report, the retirement of largely coal-fired powerplants will come more rapidly than new generation sources that may or may not be built. PJM notes that economics, environmental and regulatory requirements are speeding up the demise of fossil fuel power plants and will lead to reduced reserves needed during extreme heat and cold.
Another factor is the presence of energy-gobbling data centers, especially in the Washington, D.C., area.
There is also the fragile nature of the grid. A power plant issue in the Carolinas during a recent period of extreme cold could have led to blackouts here and elsewhere.
A stabilized grid is a necessity. The issue is who pays the bill. Earlier, Delaware and Maryland fought a battle over saddling utility customers with the costs of adding a power line into Delaware that would stabilize the grid around the Salem nuclear power plant complex across the river in New Jersey. The final version of cost-sharing was less burdensome to residents of the two states that who would get little benefit from the powerline.
Grid concerns explain PJM’s decision to keep Delaware’s last coal-fired plant in Sussex County running for a few more years at an additional cost to rate-payers while the grid in the area is beefed up.
James Bacon, author of a Virginia-focused blog known as Bacon’s Rebellion is sounding the alarm.”Our society is committing energy suicide, fiscal suicide, and social suicide simultaneously. At least Rome could blame the barbarians for its fall. We’ll have only ourselves to blame,” veteran newspaperman Bacon thundered.
He was joined in a morelow-key way by the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, (subscription), which blamed liberals and climate policies.
While the degree of panic seems excessive, the PJM report should be taken seriously.
We may need additional natural gas-powered plants to transition to renewables, and windpower projects need to get the green light if financing and environmental protections are adequate. And let’s not get distracted by recent converts to the offshore wind “save the whales” religion. Some of these folks are climate change skeptics with ties to the fossil fuels lobby.
One solution is to focus on energy conservation efforts, the cheapest way to ease the growth in consumption. That includes making data centers into mini-grids that generate their own power.
Finally, the regulatory, cost and construction quality issues surrounding building nuclear-powered plants should be addressed. Sadly, the institutional memory required in building safe and cost-effective nuclear plants seems to have vanished in a wave of massive cost overruns and poor designs. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
