April 23, 2014

The consequences of policy making

Push something and you will get a reaction. Maybe not immediate but the reaction potential is there and it will manifest. From The Daily Caller:
America�s power grid at the limit: The road to electrical blackouts
Americans take electricity for granted. It powers our lights, our computers, our offices, and our industries. But misguided environmental policies are eroding the reliability of our power system.

Last winter, bitterly cold weather placed massive stress on the US electrical system ― and the system almost broke. On January 7 in the midst of the polar vortex, PJM Interconnection, the Regional Transmission Organization serving the heart of America from New Jersey to Illinois, experienced a new all-time peak winter load of almost 142,000 megawatts.

Eight of the top ten of PJM�s all-time winter peaks occurred in January 2014. Heroic efforts by grid operators saved large parts of the nation�s heartland from blackouts during record-cold temperature days. Nicholas Akins, CEO of American Electric Power, stated in Congressional testimony, �This country did not just dodge a bullet ― we dodged a cannon ball.�

Environmental policies established by Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are moving us toward electrical grid failure. The capacity reserve margin for hot or cold weather events is shrinking in many regions. According to Philip Moeller, Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, �the experience of this past winter indicates that the power grid is now already at the limit.�
Federal agencies like the EPA are doing serious damage to our energy infrastructure and these chickens are coming home to roost. The article outlines some specifics and goes on to say that the MidWest utilities are projecting a deficit in electricity by the summer of 2016. Posted by DaveH at April 23, 2014 10:04 AM
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