“The reliability of our nation’s electrical system is facing unprecedented challenges,” stated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) chairman Willie L. Phillips during a hearing on May 4, 2023, with the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. FERC, the agency responsible for regulating the interstate transmission and wholesale of electricity, is raising concerns about the state of our electrical grid.
For years, Americans have taken for granted the reliability of the electrical grid. According to National Renewable Energy Laboratory grid analyst Paul Denholm, the average U.S. customer experiences power outages less than two times a year, totaling less than five hours, resulting in a reliability rate of 99.95 percent. However, this may be changing.
Former FERC Commissioner James Danly highlighted during the hearing that a significant part of the increasing challenge to grid reliability comes from the “premature retirement of dispatchable generators,” such as coal-fired and natural gas plants that can quickly adjust to meet electricity demand.
This premature retirement is largely due to federal initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel plants to address climate change. As a result, coal and gas plants that operate consistently struggle to compete with heavily subsidized intermittent wind and solar power sources.
“Our nation’s grid infrastructure is crucial to the U.S. economy,” emphasized then-FERC commissioner Allison Clements. The Energy Information Administration reports that this infrastructure includes nearly 160,000 miles of high-voltage power lines, millions of low-voltage power lines, and distribution transformers connecting 145 million customers.
Clements suggested addressing the impending reliability crisis by improving the efficiency of the existing grid through grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) and utilizing distributed energy sources like wind and solar power. Deploying GETs could delay the need to construct costly transmission lines.
If federal climate change policies persist, the Department of Energy estimates that the U.S. will need to increase its transmission capacity by 60 to 125 percent by 2035. The growing demand for electricity from data centers, electric vehicles, and home heating and cooling will lead to an 18 percent increase in domestic electricity demand by 2030 and a 38 percent increase by 2035. Can GETs help solve the grid reliability challenge we are facing?
One essential GET is the development of new high-voltage transmission lines capable of carrying up to three times as much electricity as conventional lines. Traditional high-voltage lines use outdated technology that heats up and sags as current increases, posing risks of sparking wildfires. California-based startup TS Conductor offers an innovative solution with advanced transmission wires that use carbon fiber instead of steel, allowing for safer and more efficient transmission of power.
While building new high-voltage transmission lines typically requires about 10 years, upgrading existing lines with advanced conductors could double the current capacity of the transmission system in a shorter timeframe. This approach, known as reconductoring, is cost-effective and avoids the challenges of constructing new lines. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and GridLab have shown that reconductoring projects are more affordable and can increase capacity significantly.
Research indicates that reconductoring existing rights-of-way can rapidly and cost-effectively increase transmission capacity, unlocking renewable energy sources on a national scale. These innovative solutions could play a crucial role in achieving the federal government’s clean electricity goals by 2035 and shaping the future of the U.S. electrical grid.
