We design and manage beneficial electrification programs for buildings, vehicles, and industry. Electrification grows load, attracts new customers, and reinforces the grid. For over 30 years, our residential and commercial energy efficiency experts have helped utility companies design and implement cost-effective programs that deliver maximum energy savings. Changes across the utility industry are accelerating, from customer behavior to energy demand growth. The grid operator wants to shift from an annual auction that procures energy resource commitments three years in advance to a “prompt/seasonal” model it says would help ensure power system reliability and cost-efficiency.
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has recommended conducting all-hours analyses that not only consider the ability to meet peak demand but also energy adequacy over all hours, which NERC has identified as a challenge with a changing resource mix. Historically, large, dispatchable central station generation and one-way flows from those units to customers made RA relatively straightforward. These trends and recent events has led the electric industry to re-examine the issue of resource adequacy.
But the grid operator said that even with the new resources, by 2050, “more than half of the transmission system could face thermal overloads during times of peak demand.” There are currently about 90 MW of dispatchable short-duration battery storage on the grid but “that figure is expected to grow substantially.” Batteries will play a key role in New England’s future, though the grid operator identified challenges. Heating electrification is expected to turn the regional grid back into a winter-peaking system sometime in the mid-2030s, the ISO said. “The future grid faces energy adequacy challenges on two fronts,” the ISO said.
Sept. 22, 2025 – Meeting Resources
“We are excited to partner with PPL to develop generation projects that will help Pennsylvania, and PJM, meet the growing demand for power driven by the digitization of the economy,” said Sebastien Sherman, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Infrastructure. The report also identified best practices in resource adequacy planning for the Southwestern utilities to follow, including a probabilistic analysis framework that would allow them to capture the effects of a volatile climate, as well as an effective load carrying capability methodology that evaluates resource capacity values in an equitable fashion. Moreover, extreme cold weather could cause disruptions in natural gas deliveries. The report also identified several https://openscience.us/repo/software-maintenance/gnu.html other reliability risks that the region will continue to face, including shifting weather conditions that could affect the electricity system, as well as the fact that a more renewable-heavy grid could be more vulnerable to weather conditions.
- “It’s not a replacement for broader interconnection reforms, but this complementary effort will ensure reliability isn’t compromised during a transitional period while we work to implement more permanent solutions.”
- In other words, the number of days over which the LDES is assumed to charge will be extended for longer duration storage such that it can reach an SOC that supports showing its full duration on LSE supply plans.
- Changes across the utility industry are accelerating, from customer behavior to energy demand growth.
- We design and manage beneficial electrification programs for buildings, vehicles, and industry.
- It has come under increased scrutiny from regulators as traditional fossil fuel power plants approach retirement at the same time as electricity demand is forecasted to grow.
Rapid, concentrated growth from data center development, in addition to growth from residential and commercial customers, is projected to drive growth in resource adequacy targets for https://www.canisciolti.info/tips-for-the-average-joe-4/ both PJM and MISO between 2025 and 2030. Combined with an “aging fleet of coal and gas generators,” the growth from data centers is “likely to pose significant challenges for the reliability of both systems,” the report stated. With different entities focusing on serving the needs of its immediate customers, the development of a plan for long-term resource adequacy needs is more difficult than if entities were working in concert with each other, according to the report. That demand, along with retirement of many coal, gas and oil units, and increasing development constraints could strain the state’s utilities and regional transmission organizations, PJM Interconnection and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, according to the report.
- Liz Moyer recounts the history—and potential future—of the US energy sector, including significant transitions between dominant sources and uses of energy.
- “The future grid faces energy adequacy challenges on two fronts,” the ISO said.
- Key inflection points will likely include the repeal or phaseout of certain clean energy tax credits, evolving tariffs, new foreign entity of concern–related procurement requirements, and the integration of AI into core operations.
- Resource adequacy rules are expected to start recognizing flexible load paired with four-hour batteries as a dependable capacity resource.
- New analysis shows that Virginia policymakers could use the proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s allowance market to reduce electricity prices for residential customers.
How is resource adequacy changing?
This can create new periods of stress for power systems where sufficient capacity may be installed, however ramping capabilities may be insufficient to meet net load. The UTC and Commerce play a critical role in ensuring that utilities can provide sufficient electricity while meeting clean energy mandates. The UTC and the Washington State Department of Commerce co-host resource adequacy meetings to help ensure Washington has a reliable and affordable electricity supply. NERC is establishing a standard requiring transmission system planning for extreme heat and cold weather over wide geographical areas, including studying the impact of concurrent failures of bulk power system generation and transmission equipment. FERC staff conducted a workshop in late 2022 focused on issues related to increasing minimum interregional transmission transfer capacity, which could aid resource sharing.
Reliable growth: Deliver firm capacity for rising demand
“The fastest growing sources of energy — solar, wind, and energy storage technologies — are the ones ready to deploy to help keep costs lower and power reliable” in MISO and SPP, Carrie Zalewski, ACP vice president of markets and transmission, said in a statement. NARUC’s Center for Partnerships & Innovation division provides commissions with timely and relevant resources and activities (available below), including reports, technical papers, and virtual trainings aimed at supporting regulators as they navigate these challenges. For resource owners, the RA program provides an additional source of revenue beyond just actual https://konasaranews.com/technology/understanding-your-smart-meter-key-facts-benefits/ energy sales to help cover their fixed costs of providing service.