The "hyper-complex risk environment" of our electric grid
The Hyper-Complex Risk Environment of our electric grid
Insiders know of the decreasing reliability of our electric grid. But you can avoid - and greatly benefit from - preparing for grid-down events.
Present Day:
“The electric sector risk environment has rapidly evolved and is hyper-complex, stemming from grid transformation, increasingly frequent extreme weather systems, escalating physical and cyber security threats…” (Jim Robb, NERC President & CEO January, 2023).
(NERC) The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s mission is to assure the effective and efficient reduction of risks to the reliability and security of the grid.
The U.S. electric power system is headed for “potentially catastrophic consequences” as dispatchable generating resources are retiring “far too quickly” and in quantities that “threaten our ability to keep the lights on.” That warning was delivered by FERC Commissioner Mark C. Christie in testimony June 12, 2023 to the House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security.
The problem, he said, is “not the addition of intermittent resources such as wind and solar, but the far too rapid subtraction of dispatchable resources, especially coal and gas.”
FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) ensures reliable, safe, secure & economically efficient energy for consumers at a reasonable cost.
"There are urgent and complex challenges to electric system reliability in the MISO region and elsewhere. This is not just MISO’s view; it is a well-documented conclusion throughout the electric industry." (Midcontinent Independent System Operator 2024 Reliability Imperative report).
Here is a link to the complete report as published by FERC:
https://www.nerc.com/pa/RAPA/ra/Reliability%20Assessments%20DL/NERC_LTRA_2023.pdf
Recent Widespread Grid Down Events:
2022
A record-setting 90.5 GW, or 13% of the generating capacity in the Eastern Interconnection — the grid system covering two-thirds of the U.S. — failed to run or operated at reduced capacity during Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022: (Utility Dive; Sept. 22 2023).
The full article is at the following link:
Record 13% of Eastern Interconnect capacity failed in Winter Storm Elliott: FERC, NERC | Utility Dive
FERC commissioners called on Congress Thursday to name an agency for gas reliability oversight as commission and NERC staff issued cold-weather recommendations.
2021
In February 2021, a severe cold weather event – also known as Winter Storm Uri – caused numerous outages, derates or failures to start at electric generating plants across Texas and south central States. About 4.5 million people lost power (some lasting 4 days), during the freezing conditions.
"From February 8 through 20, in the Event Area, a total of 1,045 individual generating units—58 percent natural gas-fired, 27 percent wind, six percent coal, two percent solar, seven percent other fuels, and less than one percent nuclear—experienced 4,124 outages, derates or failures to start." - FERC report.
Here is a link to the report by FERC on the impact of Uri:
https://www.ferc.gov/media/february-2021-cold-weather-outages-texas-and-south-central-united-states-ferc-nerc-and
How to avoid the "hyper-complex risk" of our electric grid:
Install on-site, independent power generation to protect your assets, profits and business.
Works with or without grid power.
Use for emergency backup, peak cost shaving, or continuously. Your choice.
How profitable can it be for You?
Have you calculated your cost for every hour you are down, when you have no power?
Electric utility costs continue to rise. About half of your electric utility bill is for delivery of grid power to you. That delivery infrastructure needs massive upgrades and the utility customers will be paying for it.
Running your generator(s) directly reduces your utility electric bill.
You continue to operate when your competition may not.
Many factors must be considered to provide an estimate of the financial implications for your company. We provide a no-obligation analysis of those factors for your consideration. We include estimated ROI, NPV, IRR and more.
We tailor our analysis to your local electric utility costs, as well as your preferred generation solutions.
Call us at 630-343-0971 to discuss your situation and goals.