My electricity comes from the PJM grid and every now and then I check the PJM website to see what this regional transmission organization (RTO) is doing at the moment and planning for the future.
A couple years ago PJM was touting just how green they were and bragging on the reduction of GHG from generation in their territory. That was the time that they, like many other responsible organizations should have called out the EPA and green subsidies. The shortages this winter are likely to require Rolling Blackouts. Worse yet, the dependence is on an ever increasing amount of "Just in Time" pipeline supplied natural gas. Pipelines are vulnerable to both Cyberhacks and mechanical damage from nefarious actors and we know the Biden-Harris administration has let millions of illegal foreigners into our country with unknown intentions. Many military age from countries that hate America. America has not built a new coal plant since 2013 yet over 122,000 MW of reliable, Dispatchable generation has been shut down. Coal and nuclear plants have the advantage of stored fuel on-site. Especially helpful when the next "Polar-Vortex" such as 2014, comes through the Northeast. I wrote some thoughts on this on my blog: http://dickstormprobizblog.org/2024/10/03/heaven-runs-on-righteousness-earth-runs-on-energy/
Good example of trouble ahead. Very important point: "if the storage is via batteries it's useless for anything but the shortest of blackouts." Most grid backup battery systems talk about providing 4 hours of backup. Why bother? We can all get along with no power for 4 hrs. The real danger, to people and to businesses and to the economy, is week-long blackouts - and it could happen.
A couple years ago PJM was touting just how green they were and bragging on the reduction of GHG from generation in their territory. That was the time that they, like many other responsible organizations should have called out the EPA and green subsidies. The shortages this winter are likely to require Rolling Blackouts. Worse yet, the dependence is on an ever increasing amount of "Just in Time" pipeline supplied natural gas. Pipelines are vulnerable to both Cyberhacks and mechanical damage from nefarious actors and we know the Biden-Harris administration has let millions of illegal foreigners into our country with unknown intentions. Many military age from countries that hate America. America has not built a new coal plant since 2013 yet over 122,000 MW of reliable, Dispatchable generation has been shut down. Coal and nuclear plants have the advantage of stored fuel on-site. Especially helpful when the next "Polar-Vortex" such as 2014, comes through the Northeast. I wrote some thoughts on this on my blog: http://dickstormprobizblog.org/2024/10/03/heaven-runs-on-righteousness-earth-runs-on-energy/
Good example of trouble ahead. Very important point: "if the storage is via batteries it's useless for anything but the shortest of blackouts." Most grid backup battery systems talk about providing 4 hours of backup. Why bother? We can all get along with no power for 4 hrs. The real danger, to people and to businesses and to the economy, is week-long blackouts - and it could happen.
And we'll be told, "THE SOLUTION IS MORE RENEWABLES AND STORAGE"!