Extreme weather shows need for dispatchable resources

 Extreme weather shows need for dispatchable resources: FERC commissioners

.Jan. 19, 2024

 

Ethan Howland Senior Reporter

Christie warns on power plant retirements

While grid operators and utilities generally managed to keep the lights on during this week’s extreme weather, FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said that was only possible because they had enough dispatchable power supplies provided by gas- and coal-fired power plants and nuclear generating stations.

On Wednesday morning, during PJM’s peak demand period, gas-fired power plants produced 41% of the grid operator’s electricity, nuclear plants produced 25% and coal-fired generators produced 24%, according to Christie.

During the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s peak, gas and coal power plants each generated 34% of MISO’s electricity, followed by wind at 20% and nuclear at 9%, he said.

Those numbers indicate the danger posed by the loss of dispatchable generation through power plant retirements without adequate replacements, according to Christie. 

“If the pace of retirements continues at the pace it is, the numbers just aren’t going to add up,” Christie said. “This is not a commentary against some form of resources. It is simply stating what NERC has been telling us over and over … that if you don’t maintain these dispatchable resources until you have an absolutely adequate replacement, we’re not going to have the success we had in the last three or four days.”

Extreme weather shows need for dispatchable resources, new transmission: FERC commissioners | Utility Dive

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