2024-05-06 06:30:00
U.S. POWER GRID THREAT
BLOOMBERG - May 2, 2024 - Peabody Energy Corp., the biggest US coal producer, is warning that federal regulations to curb emissions from power plants pose a threat to the grid at a time when electricity demand is poised to surge.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced regulations last month that will force coal-fired power plants to capture nearly all of their carbon dioxide emissions — or close — by 2039. The policies are a critical part of President Joe Biden’s efforts to fight climate change, but they come just as the boom for artificial intelligence and data centers is set to send power demand higher.
The new regulations are “threatening grid reliability at a time of increased energy demand,” Jim Grech, Peabody’s chief executive officer, said during a conference call with analysts Thursday.
Rules that may lead to power plants shutting down have the potential to crimp electricity supply, Grech said, while also adding that he thinks the environmental regulator may be overreaching.
“We do believe, though, that the EPA has overstepped its authority,” he said.
Earlier this week, utility American Electric Power Co.’s Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Fowke said the company might legally challenge the new federal rules.
“With manufacturing centers, electric vehicles, data centers, AI centers and so on, there’s tremendous, tremendous load growth projected,” Grech said. That’s spurring “concern of grid reliability and not having enough existing baseload generation to support this load growth.”
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Earlier:
2024, April, 26, 06:35:00
EUROPEAN ELECTRICITY PRICES UP
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As solar and storage costs continue to decrease, at what point will having stand-alone power for customers of all types be a reality? What about microgrids that can use fuel cells and emerging green or even blue hydrogen technologies.
2024, April, 17, 06:35:00
ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES & CONSUMERS
Factors in the Energy Utility Grid’s growth involve two facets of the Energy Industry, technology and energy consumer populations. Technology developments successfully applied to the Energy Utility Grid to expand efficiency, reliability, and stability include AI, SMART Grid platforms, and DERs.
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US GRID CHALLENGES
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TEXAS ENERGY STRAINING
The Texas grid has repeatedly seen tight electricity supplies in the past year as extreme weather and surging power demand strain aging infrastructure.
