North American electricity demand still outpacing resource growth, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 10/22/2007.
Electricity usage in the United States is projected to grow more than twice as fast as committed resources over the next 10 years, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), announced in its annual 2007 Long-Term Reliability Assessment.
Unless additional resources are brought into service, some areas could fall below their target capacity margins within two or three years. In parts of western Canada, demand is projected to outpace resource growth within about two years.
“We are at the stage where emergency situations are becoming more frequent,” said Rick Sergel, president and CEO of NERC, "requiring our aging grid to bear more and more strain, and are operating the system at or near its limits more often than ever before. As operating margins decrease, we are limiting our ability to manage unplanned events like equipment failures and extreme weather.”
“Renewable resources are an important part of North America’s energy future, but reliably integrating them into the bulk power system has its challenges. Large-scale wind and solar generation resources are often remotely located and will require new transmission lines to deliver their power to population centers...."
Peak demand for electricity in the United States is forecasted to increase by almost 18% (135,000 MW) in the next 10 years....
California, the Rocky Mountain states, New England, Texas, the Southwest, and the Midwest could fall below their target capacity margins within two or three years if additional supply-side and demand-side resources are not brought into service.
... projected transmission additions still lag demand growth and new generation additions in most areas.
“NIMBY is becoming NIMS: Not in My State. Reliability of the power grid in one state affects reliability in other states too, due to the interconnected and interdependent nature of the power grid,” said Sergel.
[We will have to chose between "unsightly," potentially hazardous [excerpt below] high-voltage transmission lines crossing "my back yard" and an "always on" supply of electricity for our refrigerators, our cell phone battery rechargers, our LCD TVs, microwave ovens, and all of the other modern conveniences that make life "modern."]
The 2007 Long-Term Reliability Assessment analyzes the adequacy of the North American bulk power system through 2016 and calls for actions to improve reliability. The 238-page report is available here.
In How Dangerous Is Electromagnetic Radiation? Junu Bryan Kim writes-
"What characteristic is shared by an electric blanket, a power line, and a broadcast tower?"All three emit electromagnetic radiation."
Mr. Kim points out: "These invisible electromagnetic fields are known as EMFs. They are generated by currents running through electric wires."
"No clear cause-and-effect relationship has been established between EMFs and illnesses, but the mounting evidence makes EMFs appear to be extremely suspicious. And because EMFs are generated by many sources -- including microwave ovens, televisions and radios, military radar systems, and, ironically, some treatments for cancerous tumors -- many of us could be
at risk."
"Studies over the last 15 years have hinted at a connection between EMFs and health problems. EMFs have been implicated in behavioral changes, birth defects, memory loss, and Alzheimer's disease. In 1976, two doctors at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y. showed that the offspring of mice exposed to extremely low-frequency EMFs from power lines were born stunted."
[{sigh}
1,030 billion kWhs of South Dakota wind power is the potential that can be harvested to forestall "brown outs" and "black outs." We have to just act.
Best wind.
