Something big is happening in the electric utility space: artificial intelligence is moving in -- and it is on its way to becoming a transformative force. The Electric Power Research Institute and most of the national laboratories, from Argonne in Chicago to Pacific Northwest in Seattle, are predicting major impacts on utility operations. The World Economic Forum predicts AI usage will grow 20-fold between now and 2030.
Sometime between now and the decade’s end, the nation’s electric utilities will begin to contend with a surge. That is when electric vehicles (EVs) will begin arriving in numbers large enough to tax the edge of the grid and to have utilities scrambling for ways of accommodating the new demand in peak hours.
S&P Global projects that 40 percent of new car sales in 2030 will be electric; other studies’ projections go as high as 50 percent.
Hydrogen Naturally, Inc. has found the key to removing gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere: power facilities and communities with Bright Green™ Hydrogen made from residual forestry waste fiber. Hydrogen Naturally, Inc. Executive Chairman Ian MacGregor will give an overview of how and why this innovative system works—and how it provides indigenous ownership and durable jobs in the transitioning energy market.
The world’s greatest machine, the U.S. electricity supply system, will begin to sputter in a few years as more is asked of it than it can deliver with its present resources and constraints.
Utilities in at least three regions of the country -- the Midwest, the South and New England -- and Texas should be prepared for winter energy shortfalls and load shedding. This is the consensus of numerous prognostications, including from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the industry’s own forecaster.
After the final results are tallied from the midterm elections, it is likely that Republicans will have a narrow House majority, while control of the Senate will hinge on a December runoff in Georgia.
Transmission is the wild card in the future of the U.S. utility industry as it struggles to meet the twin demands of load growth and decarbonization.Ideally, the windy prairies and sunny deserts should be supplying power via long HDVC lines running between the renewables-rich West and the power-needy East.
Study after study finds that the United States must double its electricity production by 2050 in order to meet the surging demand for electricity in transportation. The anticipated load is for surface vehicles, but the aviation industry is looking at electric flight.
