Electric Co-op Today

There is no guarantee that the U.S. electric power delivery infrastructure will be able to provide “reliable, cost-effective, secure and environmentally sustainable” electricity in coming years, an Energy Department advisory panel concluded.

“The early warning signs of a declining electric power delivery infrastructure are visible today,” DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee warned in a recent report, “Keeping the Lights On in a New World.”

Most of this system, along with supply infrastructure, is nearing the end of its useful life, the report said. Problems affect various components of the system:

• Coal transportation, particularly by rail, is congested;
• Natural gas supply and the infrastructure needed to produce and deliver it could fall behind demand;
• Spent nuclear fuel storage is reaching capacity at some reactors, with no policy direction on long-term storage or reprocessing;
• The integration of renewable energy resources rises and falls with the ebb and flow of legislation to fund production tax credits; and
• Transmission infrastructure is aging and becoming more congested.

While the current financial crisis may temporarily lower electricity demand, thereby alleviating some of the pressure on supply adequacy in the short term, the advisory committee said, “this drop in demand will likely only mask … deeper and more fundamental infrastructure issues.”

Failure to promptly address these issues will make it more difficult to resolve the problems, it warned.

The committee called on the Energy Department and the new administration to act swiftly on its recommendations.

“We were asked to deliver our findings in time for early consideration by the new administration,” said advisory panel member Barry Lawson, NRECA manager of power delivery. “We hope for timely attention to these serious challenges.

“We are pleased the report acknowledges and pays particular attention to keeping electricity affordable for all consumers as grid improvements are considered,” he added.

Tags: Department of Energy, Electric Grid, Infrastructure, Trends Reports and Analyses