Why Reliability Matters: Two Views

• During the so-called “polar vortex” in January 2014, most of the eastern half of the nation experienced record-low temperatures repeatedly and for extended periods. Natural gas prices in the Midwest and Northeast skyrocketed and there were record withdrawals from gas reserves. Natural gas supplies were prioritized to provide for home and business heating first, restricting deliveries to gas-fired power plants (PJM estimated 6,000-9,000 MW of outages from gas curtailments). In the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) region, wind generation dropped from 10,000 megawatts on Jan. 6 as the cold front moved in, to 1,050 megawatts on Jan. 7, when temperatures were coldest. During this time, U.S. nuclear plants collectively maintained a capacity factor between 95 and 98 percent. In the Northeast, nuclear energy supplied more electricity than natural gas, a rare occurrence. Oil-fired generation roughly equaled natural gas generation in New England as regional power-generating capacity was stretched to the limit.
• As the largest U.S. transmission system operator, PJM is responsible for ensuring electric power reliability in all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia, an area that represents a fifth of the U.S. economy and 60 million people. In a Jan. 20, 2014 letter to U.S. EPA administrator Regina McCarthy, PJM President and CEO Terry Boston wrote (emphasis added):

  “We are managing a significant shift in our region’s generating mix that is occurring due to the increased availability of natural gas, state and federal regulations that have raised costs for coal-fired power generation, the aging of certain generating resources and other factors. More than 16,000 MW of coal-fired resources will retire by 2016 and new gas and renewable generating units are rapidly interconnecting to our system. … The rapid shift in the profile of the generation fleet and our most recent winter experience underscores the importance of our maintaining fuel diversity in this region.”
  “Effectively managing the timing of such a dramatic supply shift is an intricate process which triggers the need for significant investments in transmission and other infrastructure. This infrastructure does not spring up overnight — transmission facilities and new baseload generation can sometimes take years to move from initial concept to integration onto the grid. For this transition period and hopefully into the future, PJM is fortunate to be able to rely on more than 30 nuclear units providing over 30,000 MW of baseload capacity in this region. The region’s nuclear resources allow us to maintain fuel diversity in our generation profile. These resources will, if anything, become even more important for reliability purposes as more intermittent resources are added to the mix.”http://www.nuclearmatters.com/reliable-power/why-reliability-matters