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Investing in America's Electric Future
AS ENERGY PRICES RISE, MANY PEOPLE ARE WATCHING THEIR ENERGY use — including their electricity bills. The escalating costs of generation fuel affect everyone, and in many states, the removal of price caps keeps the pressure on. But last summer, from July 30 to August 5, Americans consumed more electricity than during any other week in history — 98,583 gigawatt-hours (gWh). It was the second record in three weeks, eclipsing the 96,314 gWh used July 16-22 by 2.4%. It was hot, to be sure. But during a cold spell seven months later, weekly electricity demand hit a new winter record from January 28 to February 3 (83,459 gWh), and surged to 84,063 gWh the next week.
Of course,records are meant to be broken—every day the population grows and more people use energy. It’s also true that because electricity use tends to track real gross domestic product, such record-breaking indicates a strong economy. But according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) recent assessment, the margins between peak electric demand and total installed generation capacity are narrowing in most regions of the U.S. Over the next three years, these margins will likely drop below minimum regional target levels in New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, Texas and the Rocky Mountains. After 2010, you could add the entire West, as well as the Southwest, to the list.
This comes as the nation looks for ways to address climate change. In 2004 and 2005, the power sector accounted for 63% of all carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases reduced, avoided or sequestered under voluntary programs. While the industry would support a national climate change policy that, among other things, is technology-driven, economy-wide and minimizes negative economic impacts, it is also promoting policies and initiatives for new, cleaner technologies, including energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage.
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