ISO-New England Pushes Steps To Avoid Winter Blackouts

June 13, 2013

Worried there might not be enough natural gas in New England this winter to meet demand, the region’s electric grid operator wants oil-fired power plants to stockpile 4.2 million barrels of oil by Dec. 1 for backup. ISO-New England also wants more big businesses to agree to shut down power-guzzling equipment during severe weather to help reduce demand. The ISO is seeking to avoid a repeat of last winter, when a five-day cold snap in late January and a blizzard in early February tested the region’s power supply. During the cold snap, some big businesses were told to cut back energy use; during the blizzard, more than six gas-fired power plants informed ISO-NE they couldn’t get fuel. At the same time, some oil-fired units reported only a few days of fuel left, and some had deliveries suspended in the storm. ISO-New England has been increasingly concerned about the risk from the region’s overdependence on natural gas for generating electricity, as aging, uneconomic oil plants are being taken off line. The idea of stockpiling oil and asking more businesses to cut power use to avoid a crisis is the focus of a draft reliability plan the grid operator is preparing for the 2013-1014 heating season.

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/blackouts-remainthreat-this-winter_2013-06-08.html