ARLINGTON, Va. – National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) CEO Jim Matheson today issued the following statement on the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2023 Long-Term Reliability Assessment:
“NERC’s latest assessment paints another grim picture of our nation’s energy future as demand for electricity soars and the supply of always-available generation declines,” Matheson said. “Nine states saw rolling blackouts last December as the demand for electricity exceeded available supply. And proposals like the EPA’s power plant rule will greatly compound the problem. Absent a major shift in state and federal energy policy, this is the reality we will face for years to come.”
NERC’s assessment highlights growing concern over the next 10 years. “Key measures of future electricity demand and energy needs are rising faster than at any time in recent years, adding to future resource adequacy concerns at a time of unprecedented transformation in the industry.” It warns that “an increasingly large portion of North America is at risk in the future.”
NERC recently listed energy policy as a threat to reliability. PJM, a grid operator throughout the mid-Atlantic, recently projected that 25 GW of power generation, enough to power nearly 19 million homes, will soon be taken offline in the region because of shortsighted state and federal policies.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing nearly 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $15 billion annually in their communities.
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