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Guest Essay: Renewables Can Help Stop Winter, Summer Power Outages, Avoid Energy Price Spikes

By Matt Walker, Clean Air Council and Julia Kortrey, Evergreen Action

This guest essay first appeared on PennLive.com December 10, 2024--

After an unseasonably warm and dry autumn, Pennsylvania recently faced the inevitable, with cold, ice, and snow hitting much of the state in the lead up to Thanksgiving.

With that shift in weather came worries about what the upcoming winter will mean for heating and electric bills.

This year, these concerns are compounded by questions about how well our electric power system will be able to withstand extreme cold and major winter storms that may come our way.

These are valid concerns.

Extreme weather, worsened by climate change and Pennsylvania’s overdependence on fossil fuels, is straining our electrical grid.

Energy experts that monitor our nation’s electric power system have raised the alarm that parts of the country—including Pennsylvania—could face energy shortfalls under extreme cold conditions, particularly regions relying heavily on gas power plants.

This problem is not new, but it is rapidly growing more dire.

The number of power outages arising from severe weather is increasing dramatically. Pennsylvanians experience more outages than most, ranking as the ninth worst state for major outages in the nation.

Extreme weather puts additional strains on an electrical grid already being asked to produce more electricity to keep up with rising demand, mostly from proposals for large, electricity-devouring data centers.

In Pennsylvania, the future holds particular uncertainty if the right steps are not taken now.

That is because about 60% of Pennsylvania’s electricity is generated from one energy source: gas.

Only about 3 percent to 5 percent comes from cheaper, more reliable, home-grown renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower.

The rest comes mainly from nuclear power and coal.

Gas Is Unreliable In Extreme Winter Weather

This heavy reliance on gas is a big problem because extreme winter weather disproportionately affects gas plants and pipelines.

We saw this two years ago during Winter Storm Elliot, the extreme cold snap that hiked electricity costs and left some Pennsylvania families in the dark during the holiday season.

Forty-six gigawatts (GW) of power went out of service across our region during the storm—enough to power all of California.

Gas plants accounted for 70% of the failures.

According to the company managing the electric grid in our region, PJM Interconnection, the failure rate was “unacceptably high” and was caused primarily by failures in coal and gas generation systems, including low pressure, frozen equipment, and simply no commercially available fuel.

The effects of that storm demonstrated that fossil fuels, particularly gas, fail under extreme cold when the extra power is needed most.

For years, PJM has overvalued gas plants, but because they were unreliable during the storm, PJM is now placing a lower value on them going forward.

This, combined with PJM’s backlog in approving new renewable energy projects and their deals with aging coal plants as backup power, is expected to cause spikes in electricity bills.

The Winter Storm Elliott blackouts were not an isolated incident. A massive and deadly power failure in Texas in 2021, caused primarily by fossil fuel power plants, claimed at least 246 lives and sent utility bills skyrocketing.

Grid problems can be acute where there aren’t enough alternative energy sources.

We’ve seen this in states like North Carolina and Tennessee, where coal and gas plant outages caused widespread blackouts.

Outages in Pennsylvania were partially avoided thanks in large part to reliable power from nuclear and renewable sources.

Renewable energy and energy storage are part of the solution to keep the lights on and utility bills more stable in extreme cold and heat.

By moving to a more diverse power supply, we can be better prepared for the next winter storm, summer heat wave, or devastating hurricane.

It has worked in other states—in 2023, solar and wind energy helped stabilize electricity prices during Texas’s heatwave.

And just this past summer, California and Texas avoided rolling blackouts because of new investments in energy storage.

But how can Pennsylvania leaders create a cleaner, more reliable energy balance?

They can strengthen its renewable energy standard to set goals that will diversify Pennsylvania’s energy mix.

They can set new energy efficiency targets so households and businesses use less energy while saving money on their utility bills.

They can work with the PJM electric grid operator to speed up the process of connecting the many renewable energy projects already planned but waiting for PJM’s approval.

Pennsylvania must also have a say in what energy sources should be prioritized for replacing retiring fossil fuel power plants, and our leaders should voice strong support for battery storage and renewable energy sources in these situations.

If we want to make sure our power grid can withstand weather extremes and Pennsylvania families are protected from the whiplash of utility prices, we must diversify our energy mix by increasing the amount of reliable and affordable renewable energy we use.

Matt Walker is Advocacy Director, Clean Air Council, and Julia Kortrey is Deputy State Policy Director, Evergreen Action

Resource Links:

-- Utility Dive: North American Electric Reliability Corp: Natural Gas Electric Generation Is Threatened This Winter By Ongoing Concerns About Gas Production, Delivery In Extreme Weather Conditions [PaEN]

-- PUC Invites Stakeholder Comments On The Issue Of The Adequacy Of Electricity Supplies In Pennsylvania [PaEN]

-- PUC Encourages Consumers To Prepare For Dec. 1 Electricity Price Changes; Rates Will Vary From 8.4% Decrease To 31.2% Increase [PaEN]

-- PUC: Natural Gas Distribution Companies Prepare For Winter - Gas Consumption Expected To Decrease 1.8%, Cost For Residential Customers To Increase 1% [PaEN]

-- Public Citizen: LNG Gas Exports Could Cost Pennsylvanians Up To $16 Billion More In Energy Costs [PaEN]

-- House Committee Told Governor’s Energy Plan Diversifies Energy Generation, Avoids One-Fuel Dependence, Improves Grid Reliability, Lowers Consumer Costs, Generates Jobs; Or Upends Competitive Markets And Is A ‘Death Wish’ For Our Economy [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Shapiro Administration Supports Expanding Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards; Renewables Lower Energy Costs; Increase Grid Reliability; More Work Needed To Improve Gas Reliability [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- PA Solar Center: Whitehall Borough, Allegheny County To Install Solar Energy Facility In Early 2025 [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension: How Local Ordinances Can Address Concerns About Physical Impacts Of Grid-Scale Solar Development [PaEN]