Recent electric grid emergencies highlight the need for better communication, and coordination, between energy policymakers and grid operators.
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In early November the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, convened its annual technical conference on the reliability of the electric grid. In most years the conference attracts little attention beyond electricity industry insiders. But recently, and this year in particular, grid reliability has become a focus of national concern following a narrowly avoided, potentially widespread grid outage in the Eastern US last winter. A recent report from the FERC and the nation’s grid reliability regulator, NERC, warns that similar outages are increasingly likely this coming winter.
At the root of reliability concerns is the energy transition itself, in which fossil fuel powerplants, and coal plants in particular, are rapidly retiring and not being quickly replaced with clean sources of power. Also concerning has been the performance of natural gas-fired generators, a large number of which have failed to operate in severe weather conditions.
While these resources can provide reliable electricity supply, they won’t do so by simple chance. Detailed and deliberate grid planning, and coordination between the policymakers who set clean energy goals and the grid operators who are responsible for reliability, is essential if future reliability is to be ensured.
On the podcast Kelli Joseph, a senior fellow with the KIeinman Center for Energy Policy, explores this disconnect between electricity policy and reliability. She also discusses the nation’s looming challenges to grid reliability and resilience, and how coordination between policymakers and the operators of the electric grid might be achieved.
Kelli Joseph is a senior fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, and a senior fellow in electricity market design and clean energy transition with the World Resources Institute.
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