reliability

Companies operating in Puerto Rico have paid particular attention to the reliability and resiliency of their power supply after a series of major hurricanes battered the island in recent years. Those storms

Help customers stay resilient with clean propane power generation. Power outages caused by extreme weather events continue to cause environmental and economic stress throughout the country. Because of this, finding more reliable power options is a top priority for power professionals. In a recent episode of the Path to Zero podcast, Tucker Perkins, president and […]

Reliability measures implemented after Winter Storm Uri and Elliott were largely effective at averting distress on the power and natural gas systems during two severe arctic storms that swept across North America in quick succession in January, staff from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Reliability Corp. (NERC) have reported. During […]

Cheese Merchants uses close collaboration with Charles Equipment to power its mission to deliver fresh, premium cheese products to vendors across the U.S. Volvo Penta’s D16 engine serves as a key ingredient for standby power systems designed to drive quality and customer service. Cheese Merchants has come a long way since Pasquale Greco founded the […]

As decision-makers look for practical and worthwhile ways to improve substation monitoring, they often turn to heat-vision applications, such as infrared thermography. Such methods allow people to use specialized equipment to see abnormal temperature patterns—such as hot spots or unusual coolness—within industrial assets. This approach supports substation reliability by reducing outages and warning people earlier […]

Grid operators across the U.S. report they are largely prepared for the total solar eclipse that will pass over a large swath of North America on April 8, though they remain vigilant, monitoring for any unexpected shifts in power generation or demand that could test the power system’s resilience. The much-anticipated solar eclipse will begin […]

AccuWeather’s team of expert meteorologists is warning people and businesses to start preparing for a frenzy of tropical activity that could have major impacts on the U.S. this hurricane season. “The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is forecast to feature well above the historical average number of tropical storms, hurricanes, major hurricanes, and direct U.S. impacts,” […]

Scientists who maintain the world’s temperature records, which date back to 1880, calculate a global temperature anomaly each year to determine how much temperatures have changed compared to temperatures from 1951 to 1980. In mid-January, they announced that 2023 was the hottest year on record. Furthermore, they said every month from June through December 2023 […]

(Updated March 7 with responses from EPA): The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will drop requirements covering existing natural gas-fired power plants in its final Section 111 rule regulating power sector greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is expected in April.  EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Feb. 29 said in a written statement the agency’s rule—which the […]

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) is warning reliability challenges have grown urgent as the nation’s power system grapples with a “hyper-complex risk environment.”  The grid operator that serves 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba, in its updated Reliability Imperative report released on Feb. 22, flagged several critical challenges that the region […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has urged conservation as it grapples with record-high power demand amid extremely cold temperatures and near-zero wind chill over its seven-state region in the Southeast. The federal corporation, a major generator that serves as a regional reliability coordinator, on Jan. 16 said “heavy snow and bitterly cold temperatures” were expected […]

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a conservation appeal as it braces for continued freezing temperatures, “very high” demand, and “unseasonably low wind” early in the morning on Jan. 15, just before the solar ramp-up. The grid operator on Sunday afternoon said it expects “tight grid conditions” as temperatures plunge, driven by […]

PJM has urged Talen Energy to delay its deactivation of two of four units at the 840-MW coal, oil, and gas–fired Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station in Maryland until transmission upgrades are put into service around 2028. The nation’s largest regional transmission organization (RTO) on Jan. 10 said it informed Talen that the deactivation of […]

Alabama Power is a subsidiary of Southern Company and the largest electric utility within Alabama, delivering power through 85,586 miles of lines in the southern two-thirds of the state. We operate in one of the most storm-prone areas of the country, facing tornadoes, thunderstorms, and tropical storms year-round. The continual rush of disruptive weather events […]

In late 2024, a first-of-a-kind, fully functional project spearheaded by Duke Energy, GE Vernova, and Sargent and Lundy could begin demonstrating the commercial peaking capabilities of an integrated hydrogen power-to-power system at Duke Energy’s DeBary power plant in Florida. In an exclusive interview, project partners revealed details of the potentially trailblazing installation, which is slated […]

The decision on whether or not to invest in distributed energy resources is complicated. Evaluating all aspects, including cost, consumption metrics, resource availability, personal goals, and reliability

Electrification is often presented as an optimal way to reduce carbon emissions, but it’s simply not practical to rely on electricity alone. No single energy source can solve the long-term environmental challenges the world faces. Why isn’t all electrification the answer? The infrastructure required to keep up with the electrification movement would take decades to […]

Incremental unplanned generation outages triggered during Winter Storm Elliott spiked to 90.5 GW—significantly more than the 61.8 GW during Winter Storm Uri in 2021—representing 13% of the U.S. portion of anticipated resources in the Eastern Interconnection. That finding, one of many disturbing details unveiled by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Electric […]

Marking a significant inroad to establish a South Korean foothold in the world’s gas turbine technology market, heavy industrial company Doosan Enerbility this summer began commercial operation of its first

Just because something hasn’t failed doesn’t mean it won’t—especially when an “old dog” of a plant is taught new tricks. Two women wearing personal protective equipment waited impatiently in the

Energy transition is progressively being adopted globally, pushing combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) to embrace flexible operation also on islands. CCGTs are, or will be, ramping loads up and down to accommodate intermittent renewable power inputs into the grid. These maneuvers compromise operational stability and jeopardize plant availability. Plant trips on small to mid-size islands […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved key transmission reforms aimed at clearing a staggering backlog of more than 10,000 generation and storage projects—more than 2,000 GW—stalled in interconnection queues across the country. Order 2023, a final rule unanimously adopted by FERC’s four commissioners at a July 27 open meeting and posted in full […]

Extreme temperature and weather events have become more prevalent in the past decade. In fact, July 2023 is shaping up to be “the hottest single month on Earth on record, and possibly in more than 100,000 years,” according to an article published by The Washington Post. The article, published on July 20, says, “Every day […]

Although there is a risk of energy shortfalls in parts of the U.S. if extreme summer temperatures materialize, there is no stopping the clean energy transition that is sweeping the nation. Energy storage

Modeling from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) suggests an 11% probability of having a load shed issue on a peak day this summer, an official said during a reliability committee meeting on June 19. The Texas grid, which was tested this week by a record-breaking heat wave, issued a weather watch and a […]

Two peaker plants in the southern U.S. found the experience and know-how of a seasoned rotating equipment services provider indispensable during a control system upgrade and a generator rewind project. Every

As the energy transition to inverter-based resources continues, reliability risk increases and requires additional investment to mitigate threats. But what measures should be put in place, what are the

Washington, D.C. – In a recent letter to PJM Interconnection, America’s Power explained that near-term coal plant retirements could be three times greater than PJM anticipates in its recent white paper, thereby increasing the risk of electricity shortages.  The PJM paper examines the disconnect between increasing coal retirements, growing electricity demand, and the slow addition […]

A trilemma is a situation that presents three possible choices to a complex challenge. Due to mutual exclusivity of the available choices, achieving them simultaneously is always a daunting task. The overarching objective is to achieve the three possible solutions in a balanced manner. Energy trilemma refers to the need to find a balance between […]

So far, utilities have announced plans to retire some 93,000 MW (nameplate) of coal—almost half the existing coal fleet—by the end of this decade. Coal retirements combined with increasing penetration of