The Importance of Reliability
Dear Members,
Most folks don’t think about the reliability of Randolph EMC’s electrical distribution system and the regional bulk power grid until the power goes off. In my opinion, that’s the way it should be for our members. Power outages should not be the norm to the point where they are expected. But when the power goes out - because electricity “powers our lives” in so many ways - electricity becomes incredibly important at that very instant.
In 2022, specifically for the month of December, grid reliability was a hot topic of conversation for Randolph EMC members around kitchen tables and down at the country store. In fact, two unusual December outage events that affected our members captured state and national news. I’ve written about them in previous AWARE Columns.
On December 3rd, criminals attacked Duke Energy’s substations in Moore County. The damaged equipment affected a high voltage transmission line that feeds Randolph EMC’s Eastwood and Seven Lakes substations, resulting in 2,737 members losing power. In the February 2023 AWARE column, I reviewed in detail your team’s restoration response well in advance of Duke Energy’s completion of repairs to their damaged equipment. As I write this article, the criminal investigation is still underway. Our hope is there will be an arrest and conviction of anyone guilty of carrying out this attack.
Later in the month of December, a cold front brought wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour and cold temperatures. In the early morning hours of Christmas Eve, temperatures fell into the single digits. This is somewhat unusual but not unheard of in our part of the country. But what followed on Christmas Eve morning was unheard of.
For the first time ever, Duke Energy initiated rolling blackouts for portions of the state to preserve the stability of the regional electrical grid from widespread failure. Not doing so would have resulted in extensive and lengthy power outages.
Based on what we currently know, peak load levels were higher than predicted. This high demand was coupled with multiple power-generating plants either not generating to their full capacity or going off-line completely.
The blackouts affected three of Randolph EMC’s substations in the general areas of Snow Camp, Staley and New Hope in Alamance and Randolph Counties. This impacted 21% (6,858) of our members for durations of 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Investigations are underway, and I am looking forward to the final report. But as I have stated before, this situation is unacceptable.
These December outage events were certainly big news and brought a heightened focus on the importance of a reliable electrical grid. But there are new headwinds that could also affect the long-term reliability of the grid.
On May 11th, the Biden administration, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), released newly proposed limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants. These proposed standards would specifically set emission caps for carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal and natural gas generating plants.
As part of this new announcement, the EPA proposes that existing fossil fuel power plants either cut or capture nearly all their CO2 emissions by 2038. Power plants unable to meet the new emission standards would be forced off-line. New fossil fuel-generating plants, and natural gas-fired plants are the only fossil fuel plants being constructed these days, and they would be required to meet the new standards.
In response to these recently proposed power plant emission rules, I believe that Jim Matheson, the CEO of our national trade association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), summed it up extremely well.
He said, “This proposal will further strain America’s electric grid and undermine decades of work to reliably keep the lights on across the nation. And it is just the latest instance of EPA failing to prioritize reliable electricity as a fundamental expectation of American consumers. We’re concerned the proposal could disrupt domestic energy security, force critical, always-available power plants into early retirement and make new natural gas plants exceedingly difficult to permit, site and build.”
Matheson continued: “Nine states experienced rolling blackouts last December as the demand for electricity exceeded the available supply. Those situations will become even more frequent if EPA continues to craft rules without any apparent consideration of impacts on electric grid reliability. American families and businesses rightfully expect the lights to stay on at a price they can afford. EPA needs to recognize the impact this proposal will have on the future of reliable energy before it’s too late.”
I couldn’t agree with Mr. Matheson more. Unfortunately, the EPA has no duty to maintain the reliability of the national electrical grid or the affordability of power bills. That’s someone else’s problem.
The potential result of these proposed power plant regulations is that fossil fuel generation would effectively be removed as an option to keep the lights on. As a nation, we cannot allow climate policies to outpace the advanced technology required to meet these new emissions standards.
The old farmer’s common-sense wisdom applies here: we can’t let the “cart get before the horse.” To maintain a reliable power grid, our state, region and nation will need fossil fuel power plants well into the future until affordable and dependable new technologies become widely available to replace them.
Randolph EMC has a great story to tell about our generation mix. Through our statewide cooperative wholesale power supplier North Carolina EMC (NCEMC), we have a very diverse and low-carbon generation mix. For 2023, our energy generation mix consists of 54% nuclear, 19% natural gas, 10% from renewables and hydro, 10% from market purchases and 7% from coal.
In the past, when reliability and affordability were in the crosshairs, your cooperative has been engaged to carry the message to the halls of Congress and the North Carolina legislature. You can rely on REMC to continue this tradition of advocacy. We would be doing our current and future members a disservice not to do so.
Cooperatively Yours,
Dale Lambert
Chief Executive Officer