The assessment details that if normal operating conditions prevail, all regions of the country will have adequate generating resources to meet expected summer demand and operating reserve requirements; however, margins are getting tighter as generation resources retire and load increases largely due to hyperscale users, such as data centers.
Regions such as Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC)-New England, Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO), the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and PJM Interconnection may face a higher likelihood of tight generation availability due to above-normal electricity demand, periods of low wind and solar output, wildfires that disrupt available transfers and generator availability, and retirements of generation capacity.
If anticipated warmer-than-average temperatures occur, the electric grid will likely be challenged throughout the continental United States with increased uncertainty due to weather events, weather forecasting, and energy demand. In addition, load is expected to be higher this summer compared to the past four summers.
“We are losing dispatchable generation at a pace that is not sustainable and we are not adding sufficient equivalent generation capacity,” FERC Chairman Mark Christie said. “Today’s assessment brings that point home, and I’m looking forward to discussing resource adequacy issues in great depth at the technical conference we are having on June 4 and 5 here at FERC.”
In addition, wholesale electricity prices are expected to be higher this summer as compared to last summer in most regions, especially in Northeast U.S.
The increase in prices is partially due to higher natural gas prices at all major trading hubs across the country because of lower natural gas storage levels due to a colder winter than previous years.
Click Here for the FERC announcement.
Related Articles This Week:
-- Rise Of The Machines: Senate, House Members Express Concern That Demand For Power To Run Computers Is Impacting The Price And Availability Of Electricity For ‘Ordinary People’ [PaEN]
-- Gov. Shapiro: Lightning Plan Tax Credit Bill, Community Energy Pass PA House [PaEN]
-- US EIA: US Natural Gas Prices Double Last Year Due To LNG Exports, Demand Driving Electricity Prices Higher This Summer [PaEN]
-- North American Electric Reliability Corp.: Record Load Growth From Data Centers, High Temperatures Expected To Strain Electric Grid This Summer [PaEN]
-- Environmental Defense Fund Blog: Another Study Identifies Health Risks During Unconventional Oil & Gas Production Even For Those Living Within 1,000 Feet Or More Of Wells [PaEN]
-- DEP Issues RFP For Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Well Plugging Services On Time & Materials Basis As Needed [PaEN]
-- US House Republicans Eliminate Funding For The Federal Methane Emissions Reduction Program, Including PA's MERP Grant Program To Plug Conventional Oil & Gas Wells [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA House Approves Shapiro’s Energy Plan Tax Credit Bill
-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: NRG Buys 5 PA Gas Power Plants To Meet ‘Supercycle’ Of Demand By Data Centers; Refitted To Run As Baseload Plants
-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA Regional Power Grid Operator Sees Manageable Summer Peak Load, But A Slight Risk Of ‘Running Short’
-- PennLive: PPL Customers Will See Another Rate Increase June 1 - 16% [Due To Regional Electric Market Issues]
-- Financial Times: Constellation Energy, Other Companies Abandon Almost Half the Projects In $5 Billion Texas Program To Fund Natural Gas Power Plants Due To Costs, Supply Chain Delays [Sen. Yaw Wants A Program Like This In PA]
-- Olean Times Herald: EPA Hears Concerns About 2nd Proposed Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In McKean County
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Truck Hauling Shale Gas Wastewater Overturns Loses 2,000 Gallons In Stream, Driver Not Injured [PDF of Article]
-- Bucks County Beacon: Bucks County Audubon Society Showcases Its Rooftop Solar Panel Project At The honey Hollow Education Center
-- TribLive Guest Essay: Allegheny County Power Outages Make Case For Solar And Energy Storage In Public Housing - By Blawnox Apartments Tenant Council & Allegheny County Decarbonization Coalition
-- TribLive: New Kensington’s Re:Build To Boost US Production Capacity For Renewable Hydrogen In Westmoreland County
-- TribLive Guest Essay: Hydrogen Future Begins In Western PA - If We Seize It - By ConservAmerica
-- PennLive: House Approves Bill Allowing Residents To Line-Dry Their Clothes
-- Kleinman Center For Energy Policy Blog: How Proposed EPA Changes Could Reshape US Clean Energy Markets
-- TribLive: President’s Planned EPA Overhaul Jeopardizes Energy Star Appliance Program
-- Utility Dive: House Congressional Republicans Proposes Early Phaseout Of Federal Clean Energy Tax Credits
-- NYT: A Clean Energy Boom Was Just Starting, Now, A Republican Bill Aims To End It
-- Reuters: US House Republicans Target Big Climate, Clean Energy Rollbacks In Budget Proposal
-- US Dept. Of Energy Slashes 47 Burdensome, Costly Regulations Setting Appliance Standards, Limiting New Energy Production, DEI Requirements For Grant Recipients
-- Reuters: US DOE Unveils Broad Rule Changes Aimed At Cutting Red Tape
-- Reuters: US, Europe Drive Global Power Plant Emissions Higher So Far In 2025
[Posted: May 15, 2025] PA Environment Digest
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