A panel of power and utility industry stakeholders met last week with Congressional lawmakers and detailed challenges related to exploding load growth and grid reliability.
The three-hour House Energy Subcommittee hearing, titled “Scaling for Growth: Meeting Demand for Reliable, Affordable Electricity,” saw representatives from PJM Interconnection, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Southern Company and Duke University warn of the accelerating growth of electricity demand in the face of dwindling generation supply. Some of the concerns highlighted include the growing supply-demand imbalance in the power system, generation assets retiring faster than new supply is being added, increase in power demand from data centers and other sources, and the difficulties in building new projects.
When asked whether their entities can meet the significantly increasing demand with renewables alone, both Haque and Noel Black, VP of Regulatory Affairs at Southern Company, replied that it wouldn’t be possible.
Read more details here: Lawmakers warned of explosive load growth, need for reforms – Power Engineering