Electrical Generation

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released its annual Winter Reliability Assessment (WRA) last Thursday (full copy below). The report expresses concern about the potential for freezing temperatures to impact the delivery of natural gas to power plants this winter. Texas has worked hard to winterize its natgas infrastructure following previous disasters. Outside of Texas, there is “little to no information to indicate that upstream gas producers, gatherers, and processors have improved winterization of their operations,” said the report. Should we be concerned? Read More “NERC Report Signals Concerns re NatGas-Fired Power This Winter”

AES Indiana, formerly known as Indianapolis Power & Light Company, is a utility company providing electric service to the city of Indianapolis. It is a subsidiary and largest utility of AES Corporation. In August, AES Indiana said that it wants to invest $1.1 billion in Pike County, IN, to convert the company’s two remaining coal-fired power plants to use natural gas (see AES Indiana Spending $1.1B to Convert Last Coal Plants to NatGas). Unfortunately, the coal lobby pressured some Republican politicians, including Indiana’s Republican candidate for governor, into opposing the plan. Fortunately, the state Utility Regulatory Commission saw through the politics and voted 5-0 yesterday to allow AES Indiana to convert the two coal plants at the Petersburg Generating Station to use natural gas instead. Read More “AES Indiana Gets OK to Convert Petersburg Coal Plants to NatGas”

The great folks at Steel Nation, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA, have built over 2,200 compressor stations and other structures for the oil and gas industry in the Marcellus/Utica (and beyond) over the past 17 years. Yesterday, Steel Nation announced it has launched a new division to build electric microgrids for companies looking to create their own on-site power plants to ensure their operations run efficiently 24/7/365. The new division, Steel Nation Microgrids, will work on projects from small 20 MW microgrid centers up to large hyperscale data centers that can require over a gigawatt of reliable on-site electricity to run AI facilities. This is exciting stuff! Read More “Steel Nation Launches Microgrid Division to Provide Reliable Energy”

Since 2014, the share of U.S. electricity generation from natural gas in the summer has increased every year, increasing from 29% in 2014 to 45% in 2024 (see U.S. NatGas-Fired Electricity Hit New Record High in Summer ’24). According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 43% of U.S. electricity was generated with natural gas in 2023. The second-highest source was nuclear, with 18%, followed by coal, at 16%. Unreliable wind produced 10% of all electricity for the U.S. in 2023, and solar around 4%. A new report from Enverus says natural gas has emerged as the “premier choice for grid stability” amid rising demand and coal retirements. Unreliable renewables are not up to the task. Read More “Report: Natural Gas is the #1 Choice for Electric Grid Stability”

Almost overnight, the conversation concerning power use in the U.S. changed. For years and years, electric power demand has been fairly static. Then, seemingly from nowhere, came the rise of AI and data centers, which are power-hungry. A year ago, we weren’t talking about data centers. Now, hardly a day goes by without a story on MDN (in mainstream news!) about powergen and data centers/AI. We have another story on this topic, which illustrates the dramatic growth of data centers in the PJM region. Read More “Likely Data Ctr Elec. Demand in Exelon Territory Doubled This Year”