PRINCETON, NJ – The organization that sets the standards for the nation’s power grid released a report last week stating that more transmission lines will be needed if the country hopes to utilize renewable energy sources and satisfy a two-fold increase in electricity demand that’s expected over the next ten years.
However, New York and several others states listed in the “Mid-Atlantic” National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor – areas the federal government says have critical electricity constraints – were not specifically pointed out as problem areas.
The North American Electricity Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) report also re-affirms a recent state energy report that says New York Regional Interconnect’s 190-mile-long power line isn’t needed – so long as utilities complete planned transmission upgrades.
“Sufficient market solutions (from utilities) as well as updated transmission owner’s plans have been proposed to more than meet the needs through 2016,” states NERC’s report on New York.
NERC is a federally regulated non-profit organization that sets reliability standards for the wholesale electricity industry and oversees state and regional grid operators like New York’s Independent System Operator (NYISO).
NYRI is proposing to build a $1.6 billion power line from Utica to Orange County that the company claims would relieve energy constraints downstate. The line would split the length of Chenango and Madison counties, many of whose residents have come out against the project, concerned it would devastate property values, ruin scenic views, alter the environment and pose unnecessary health risks related to electro-magnetic fields.
In its annual report released in September, NYISO stated that NYRI’s project “need not be implemented.”
However, power line officials say the NERC report substantiates their position that their project would open up the grid to more renewable energy sources, like wind and solar power generators.
“It (the report) basically supports NYRI’s contention that there is an intrinsic relationship between the development of renewable sources, which New York state supports and vigorously pursues through its ‘Renewable Portfolio Standards’ commitment, and new transmission lines, like the one NYRI proposes,” said company spokesman David Kalson in an e-mail Thursday.
NERC President and CEO Rick Sergel said delivering renewable energy from its source is challenging because there’s of a lack of transmission lines.
“Large-scale wind and solar generation resources are often remotely located and will require new transmission lines to deliver their power to population centers.” Sergel in a press release Tuesday.
Sergel added, however, that the level of power wind and solar generators can be expected produce has to become more consistent.
Calls to NERC Thursday morning were not returned by press time.
When asked Thursday if NYRI’s project focus had changed in light of the recent reports saying it’s not needed to increase energy security, Kalson said the company would provide further comments. Those remarks were unavailable by press time Friday.
Based on reports from grid operators and industry experts, NERC says electricity usage in the United States will grow “more than twice as fast as committed resources over the next 10 years,” and could strain the nation’s “aging grid.”
“Though some improvements have been made, we are requiring our aging grid to bear more and more strain, and are operating the system at or near its limits more often than ever before,” Sergel said. “As operating margins decrease, we are limiting our ability to manage unplanned events like equipment failures and extreme weather.”
Ken Klapp, a spokesman for the NYISO, said Tuesday’s report is “in conjunction with our findings.”
“When they say the grid is ‘aging,’ that means there’s just not enough transmission,” he said. “Some places need more than others.”
California, the Rocky Mountain states, New England, Texas, the Southwest and the Midwest were all listed as potential trouble spots within two to three years.