![]() Those forecasts are typically made years in advance of actual need. Some power plants in New England that have been burning oil are running short on fuel, according to Marcia Blomberg, a spokeswoman for ISO New England Inc., the. While climate change means more extreme weather, such as the current heat wave that is also affecting parts of Europe, it also makes it harder for utilities to predict future energy demand and prepare for it, Xie says. Climate change makes it harder to predict demand Or you could consider setting your thermostat a couple of degrees higher."įinally, when it comes to infrastructure, "you need to make sure the delivery systems, the transmission substations, distribution substations and transformers are well maintained and performing well during this heat wave," he says. "Maybe you can wait until later in the evening to do your laundry, for example. ![]() On the demand side, "I think there's a big potential out there to engage the consumers, especially in those peak hours," Xie says. The utilities, he says, "have to just make sure there is enough of operating reserves, meaning there will be enough generators ready and enough of a fuel supply to kick in." To stay ahead of demand, they must look at supply, demand and infrastructure, says Le Xie, also a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Texas A&M University. Supply, demand and infrastructure are key People play in artist Jeppe Hein's water-based sculpture titled Changing Spaces at Rockefeller Center Plaza in New York City on Tuesday.ĭuring a similar heat wave that battered Oregon and other states last year, utilities were largely able to keep up. "We actually maintain and upgrade our grid throughout the year to prepare for times like this," says Brandi Hinkle, a spokesperson for the utility.īut Entergy relies heavily on "clean and reliable" nuclear power to supply its customers, she adds. In neighboring Arkansas, the weather story is much the same, with the main electrical provider, Entergy, saying it has seen no need so far to ask its customers to cut back. Overbye says on that day the state "just didn't have enough wind generation." Last week, ERCOT issued just such a "conservation appeal," asking customers to scale back usage during peak hours. "When ERCOT asks for conservation, we hope all businesses will heed our request, including miners, however, there are no requirements for them to conserve," the council says. But last week, it issued requests for customers to conserve power during peak demand times. And those plants delivered only 5,514 megawatts last Friday, according to data from the nonprofit that manages the state’s grid and maintains records about power plants, the California. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which manages the state's electrical grid, says it "expects sufficient generation to meet forecasted demand" during the current heat wave. power grid was taking corrective measures to avoid the kind of outages that plagued Texas last year. In a statement on Wednesday, the North American Electric Reliability Corp., or NERC, said the U.S.
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