Regional electricity providers tasked with keeping America’s lights on warned Tuesday that the Biden administration must delay the retirement of fossil fuel power plants to give renewables time to catch up — or else risk major energy shortfalls.
They said grid reliability would be jeopardized by quickly transitioning electricity use from coal and natural gas to green alternatives such as wind and solar.
The transmission groups, which collectively deliver power from energy sources to tens of millions of homes in dozens of states, told reporters that extreme heat conditions this summer underscore the need to slow the closures of power plants, particularly those using coal.
“I’m not saying now’s the time to double down [on fossil fuels]; I’m just saying now’s the time to slow down on the removal of [those] assets from our footprint,” said Lanny Nickell, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Southwest Power Pool, a regional transmission organization serving 14 states across the central U.S. from South Dakota to Louisiana.
Two other major regional electricity suppliers, PJM Interconnection and Tri-State Generation and Transmission, offered similar warnings.
