Report Details Emerging Threats to U.S. Power Grid

The reliability of our nation’s power grid ranks low among the concerns of the average American, and for good reason. The U.S. power grid is the world’s most dependable, with enough spare capacity, human management, and technology to ensure the lights stay on nearly all of the time, even in extreme situations. Americans simply take for granted that electricity will be there when they need it. That’s what makes a recent report from the Institute for Energy Research particularly compelling.

In late February, the Institute released “Assessing Emerging Policy Threats to the U.S. Power Grid,” a 35-page report that details a range of threats to electricity as American consumers currently know it. As the report states, some threats are beyond our control (cyber attacks and extreme weather, for example), but other emerging threats are completely avoidable. Regulations rank high among these avoidable threats.

Read the Full Report Here

The report identifies two chief types of policies that stress the U.S. power grid: 1) regulations that directly shut down reliable sources of electricity such as coal and nuclear power, and 2) subsidies and mandates that force increased amounts of unreliable sources of electricity on the grid, such as wind and solar power, and undermine the operation of reliable power plants.

For example, when discussing the EPA’s recent restriction of carbon dioxide emissions, referred to by EPA as the Clean Power Plan, the report notes, “Affected utilities and grid operators are pushing back on the rule and asking for extra time to comply. However, pushing back deadlines does not solve the most important problem with the Existing Source Rule, which is EPA’s disregard for electric reliability. With this one regulation, EPA will be able to exercise unprecedented control over the electric grid. In turn, grid reliability will suffer because reliability is neither a priority for EPA nor one of EPA’s statutory obligations.”

In December, PACE joined others in commenting on the carbon dioxide rule, arguing that EPA has failed in its proposal to ensure that adequate supplies of low-cost, reliable power are available for American homes and businesses. The report also discusses EPA’s mercury rule, a regulation about which PACE has written extensively in past years. Combined with other pending rules such as tighter standards for ozone, set to be announced later this year, EPA’s policymaking could endanger the electrical reliability Americans have come to take for granted.

“Today’s electricity policy is a risky nation-wide experiment in burning the candle at both ends – something has to give,” the report states. “That means reliability problems and blackouts if emerging policy threats go un-checked. Policymakers should choose now to put the U.S. power grid back on track and to ensure reliable electricity for years to come.”