New England power plants can make more than enough electricity for the region’s needs this summer unless “extreme hot and humid weather” occurs, according to the organization that oversees the regional power grid.
ISO-New England issues forecasts before each winter and summer, when electricity usage spikes in New England, about the ability to handle expected needs from the region’s power plants burning fossil fuel, nuclear fuel or biomass, hydropower dams, solar panels, wind farms, plus electricity imported from Canada and New York.
The report said that more than 32,000 megawatts of capacity is expected to be available, which is 4,000 megawatts more than the all-time peak usage in New England. For comparison, Seabrook Station nuclear plant can produce about 1,200 megawatts.
ISO-NE also that the region can draw on 408 megawatts of demand response in which large users, often industrial factories, agree to reduce their electricity usage during times of peak need.
This summer New England will be the first region in the country to factor demand response into daily energy markets, which set the wholesale price for electricity, instead of using them only as an emergency fallback.
David Brooks