![]() ![]() ![]() And the distributed, localized, flexible systems that increasingly connect these renewable resources to the grid have been shown to help improve resiliency during extreme weather, per a Dartmouth study I covered for New Hampshire Public Radio last year. The very good news is this: Wind, sun and to some extent water are in free and endless supply, not subject to the geopolitical pressures of oil, coal and gas. There’s perennial debate in this arena about whether renewable energy helps or hurts reliability during extreme weather. During extreme cold, switching fuel types is not always successful.” “While New England expects to have sufficient energy during a mild or moderate winter, reliability risk is elevated during a period of extended extreme cold conditions,” says the NERC report. And long spells of exceptional cold are always possible. Here, natural gas is the largest fuel source for the electric grid and a growing number of homes (less so in Maine, which mostly uses oil), but pipeline and distribution capacity remains limited. ![]() Fossil fuel markets worldwide have been unsettled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, creating particularly vulnerable conditions in parts of the U.S. These dire warnings did not come true last winter, but the geopolitical situation is very different this year. “What happened in Texas changed everything,” ISO-NE CEO Gordon van Welie said on a press call around this time last year. The energy crisis in Texas amid a historic deep freeze early last year prompted a paradigm shift, regulators said at the time. We’ve heard these warnings before - from our region’s grid operator ISO-New England (ISO-NE), and from utilities and energy companies. One official called the situation the report describes “unprecedented,” according to Utility Dive. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, or NERC, warned that limited fuel supplies and other challenges in the Northeast, South and Midwest could spell disruption in the event of an extended cold snap. Sign up for the free newsletter to get important environmental news by registering at this link.Ī new report from a national power grid watchdog hones in on New England as a hotspot for potential reliability woes if the coming winter turns extreme. Editor’s Note: The following story first appeared in The Maine Monitor’s free environmental newsletter, Climate Monitor, that is delivered to inboxes for every Friday morning. ![]()
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