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.
Four major factors are coinciding that will affect the future of nuclear power: a recognition that achieving net-zero by 2050 requires nuclear in the energy mix; an availability of federal money due to the infrastructure bill and Inflation Reduction Act..
The future role of natural gas in U.S. electricity generation is under the microscope. At present, 38 percent of the nation’s generation is from gas. The current vision of the Biden Administration and some utilities is to significantly reduce reliance on natural gas...
The electric utility industry is roiled by supply chain chaos. Across the industry, there are tales of operation and maintenance delays, shortage-induced rescheduling, and crews standing idle, waiting for materials as conventional as bolts.
There is a general agreement among utility executives that this is the most exciting time ever to be in the electric space. The revolution -- from fossil fuels and renewables to small modular reactors and carbon capture, utilization and storage -- is massive, challenging, and happening...
