Half Of US Is At Risk Of Losing Power During Extreme Cold, Say Officials
by Abdul Aziz Mondal Technology 09 November 2023
Power grids that are responsible for supplying more than of the population in the United States might run short of electricity during the extended cold snap or a severe storm over the upcoming winter season, said the industry regulators.
The regional system operators in the huge swath of the country that stretches from New England to Texas are at “at risk of insufficient electricity supplies during peak winter conditions,” said the North American Electric Reliability Corp on Wednesday during the winter reliability assessment, which also portrayed Saskatchewan and Quebec facing multiple threats of shortfall of power.
The outlook is a lot more dire compared to the report of last year, which mentioned that a quarter of Americans stood at risk due to the cold weather power emergencies. It has included, for the very first time, some of the most intensely populated areas around the East Coast, which is a region that has a heavy reliance on natural gas while it transitions to renewable energy. Gas generators in that region have terribly failed during a short but rough winter storm in the previous December as they broke down or could not fuel it.
“What we can tell you firmly is that there is not enough natural gas pipeline and infrastructure to serve all the gas generation in certain areas, big areas,” said John Moura, the director of reliability assessment at NERC. The vulnerabilities of the grid had been revealed during the heavy storms in the current years, which is remarkably a 2021 deep freeze in Texas, which has left more than 200 dead.
While the utilities and the power generators have had efforts to weather proof these equipment, the report of NERC has determined that there are many that are still at risk. Deliveries of gas and coal both could be disrupted by the cold temperatures.
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