Heat Wave Spurs Calls For Stronger Power Grid Stress Focuses Concern On Transmission, Reserves; California Air Travel Stalls
By JOHN J. FIALKA and REBECCA SMITH Wall Street Journal July 19, 2006; Page A4 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115322817761709728.html?mod=home_whats_news_us A heat wave that put pressure on North America's power-transmission system for the second day soaked up more electricity reserves than expected and spurred calls for strengthening the nation's power grid. This week's heat wave brought record levels of electricity demand and amounted to a giant stress test that the U.S. power grid -- actually three interconnected grids that involve 3,500 utilities serving 283 million people -- wasn't designed to handle. While massive outages were avoided, some regions saw problems. The Associated Press reported that flights in and out of Southern California were disrupted last night because of a 90-minute power outage at a radar facility. The regional Federal Aviation Administration office couldn't determine the cause, the AP said. Joseph T. Kelliher, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said the two-day heat wave set record levels of demand in seven areas across the country. "You couldn't come up with a more serious test of the system," he said, adding that "we need adequate supplies, a more-robust grid and tough reliability standards." Stephen Whitley, chief operating officer for ISO New England, which manages the grid there, called the heat wave "a major example" of why a bigger, more modern system is needed. "Bulk power helps us get through these events. We just need to have more of it," he said. He said that while New England was in desperate need of power, cooler weather was entering the Midwest, meaning there was excess electricity there. But the region lacks the connections to move much of the power east. The nation's energy infrastructure faces two challenges. The amount of backup power -- needed to accommodate sudden spikes in usage caused by extremely hot weather -- is adequate. But that amount has been in decline as a result of a growing economy and disruptions in energy markets that caused many firms to cancel new power-plant projects. The system is plagued by bottlenecks that prevent the movement of power to areas that need it. Overhauls enacted in Washington after a major blackout in 2003 were supposed to start correcting those problems. But progress has been slow. For example, implementing one of the 2003 recommendations, FERC is soon expected to select an industry group, the North American Electric Reliability Council, to enforce uniform, federally backed rules for the grid and to impose fines on violators. The grid operates under a system of voluntary rules, a kind of honor system for the utilities and grid operators that run high-voltage transmission systems. The U.S.-Canadian task force that investigated the August 2003 blackout cited violations of the voluntary standards, including the failure of utilities to conduct routine monitoring of transmission lines and inadequate pruning of trees along transmission corridors. The blackout caused between $4 billion and $10 billion of damage in parts of the Northeast, Midwest and Canada, according to the task force. Last year, Congress responded by passing an energy bill that requires mandatory standards, backed by monetary penalties, but the rules are months away from being finalized, though a draft has been sent to FERC for review. Congress required the Department of Energy to designate national "energy corridors" where congestion is bad and new high-voltage lines might be built. But the department's report isn't due until next month. That will be the start of a more lengthy process that will allow the federal government to intervene where states can't agree on the location of interstate lines. Craig Baker, senior vice president of American Electric Power Co., the Columbus, Ohio, utility that operates the nation's largest private transmission system, said that federal intervention will help, but that it doesn't answer the question of who will pay for the billions of dollars needed to build transmission lines. "We're all looking at massive transmission expenses," he said. He told a forum of utilities and regulators yesterday that state regulators justify improvements that benefit local users, but sometimes reject changes that benefit regional movements on the grid. FERC is reviewing plans from utilities for several major new interstate power lines. The agency has new powers to authorize higher electricity rates to help finance them, which could help stimulate new investment in the grid, but lead to higher power bills for consumers and businesses. Yesterday, there were reports of isolated electric-system problems, including in Michigan, Wisconsin and some other parts of the Midwest. Some were caused by overheating of equipment and others by equipment failures. But there weren't the major transmission-line failures that could cause widespread outages for protracted periods for millions of people. PJM Interconnection, a grid operator serving 13 states and the District of Columbia, last night ended its special request for the public to conserve electricity, citing cooler forecasts. It looked like several regions might set records for electricity usage yesterday, in some cases beating records set the day before. New England, by 1 p.m. EDT, already had metered demand of 26,934 megawatts, narrowly beating a record of 26,885 megawatts set last July, according to ISO New England. One megawatt can power 500 to 1,000 homes. One major problem is making sure there's enough power available to accommodate sudden spikes in usage caused by extremely hot weather. Backup power is especially needed in summer because electrical equipment is more prone to failure when plants are running hardest and power lines are fully loaded. Reserve margins, a measure of the amount of surplus power available, in July were expected to be 17% for the U.S. as a whole and 23% for Canada, with the U.S. figure getting closer to the 15% reserve margin that's regarded as a minimum amount needed to assure reliability. Nationally, the U.S. reserve margin hit 19.4% in 2003, and in some regions it was twice as great. But disruptions in energy markets caused many firms to cancel projects, and a growing economy has eaten up much of that reserve cushion. Even small swings can have a big impact on supplies. In 2000, the year an energy crisis in California began, the U.S. reserve margin slipped to 14.7%. The electric system is susceptible to fuel problems, as well. Some companies continue to complain that they aren't getting sufficient coal deliveries out of Wyoming's Powder River Basin to keep their coal-fired plants running at maximum output. Rail problems from more than a year ago continue to cause delays as tracks are strengthened. Another type of fuel shortage could emerge, as well, if there are hurricanes along the Gulf Coast that disrupt natural-gas production, as they did last summer. ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
