DETROIT – The U.S. West and Midwest could be facing grid failure this summer, according to a Summer Reliability Assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
In its seasonal reliability assessment for the summer of 2022, the nonprofit corporation, which sets regulatory standards for U.S. grid operators, warned that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) is at “high” risk of its energy reserves falling short of its normal energy needs.
MISO provides energy transmission for the Midwest, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Texas and the western U.S., meanwhile, are at “elevated risk” of seeing grid shortages should its power needs peak beyond normal volumes, according to the report.
The latter eventuality is most likely to be the result of drought conditions that Texas and the Western and Southern U.S. have grappled with for years, the report says. As for the West, hydro-powered generators rely upon dwindling water reserves, without which the region must instead import electricity to meet demand on hot evenings.
In the Midwest, things are a bit more dire, and perhaps more certain: MISO is gearing up to have 2.3 percent less generation capacity this summer than it had last year, while its projections for peak demand have gone up by 1.7 percent in kind. Crucially, at the start of the summer, the operator is missing a key transmission line connecting the northern and southern segments of its coverage area to damage caused by a tornado last December.
That means the Midwest grid operator will likely need to shed load or import extra electricity to meet normal demand this summer—a fact that MISO itself has expressed awareness of, per an April report from Utility Dive.
To read more, click on Vice
