A new report from North American Electric Reliability Corporation said this winter season could be even worse for people trying to keep their power on. Recent extreme cold weather events have put most of the U.S. and parts of Canada, especially New England at the highest risk for electricity supply shortages this winter.“New England specifically is at elevated risk this winter," said Jim Matheson, the CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. “It may not be really bad today, but the trend is going in the wrong direction here."Matheson said there's been a trend over the years where electricity is in higher demand, and not enough supply, especially in New England.“We're not building new power plants. We may be shutting down some plants over the las few years that are always available and replacing them with wind and solar, which isn't always available,” Matheson said.According to NERC, during a New England winter storm in 2022, the flow of gas was reduced into pipelines, and both electric and gas systems were stressed in much of the eastern half of the U.S. This led to more unplanned generation losses than expected.“You had nine states in the mid-Atlantic part of the country that had rolling blackouts and it's because it was really cold, people were using more and more electricity, and they were also using more natural gas to heat their homes,” Matheson said.He also said in New England, there's limited ability to build more gas pipelines, which isn't new.“The trend for the future is not looking good, so that's why I think it's important to sound the alarm," Matheson said.So, going forward, what needs to happen?“We're going to have to find a way to create greater natural gas supply, which will allow for new electric power plants to be built,” Matheson said.Matheson said when it comes to public policy, there needs to be new ways to allow the building of new facilities and make it easier to get permits to meet these kinds of needs.
A new report from North American Electric Reliability Corporation said this winter season could be even worse for people trying to keep their power on.
Recent extreme cold weather events have put most of the U.S. and parts of Canada, especially New England at the highest risk for electricity supply shortages this winter.
“New England specifically is at elevated risk this winter," said Jim Matheson, the CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. “It may not be really bad today, but the trend is going in the wrong direction here."
Matheson said there's been a trend over the years where electricity is in higher demand, and not enough supply, especially in New England.
“We're not building new power plants. We may be shutting down some plants over the las few years that are always available and replacing them with wind and solar, which isn't always available,” Matheson said.
According to NERC, during a New England winter storm in 2022, the flow of gas was reduced into pipelines, and both electric and gas systems were stressed in much of the eastern half of the U.S. This led to more unplanned generation losses than expected.
“You had nine states in the mid-Atlantic part of the country that had rolling blackouts and it's because it was really cold, people were using more and more electricity, and they were also using more natural gas to heat their homes,” Matheson said.
He also said in New England, there's limited ability to build more gas pipelines, which isn't new.
“The trend for the future is not looking good, so that's why I think it's important to sound the alarm," Matheson said.
So, going forward, what needs to happen?
“We're going to have to find a way to create greater natural gas supply, which will allow for new electric power plants to be built,” Matheson said.
Matheson said when it comes to public policy, there needs to be new ways to allow the building of new facilities and make it easier to get permits to meet these kinds of needs.
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November 13, 2023 at 10:14AM
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Extreme cold weather could impact New England's already stressed electric supply - WMUR Manchester
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