Top power grid operator warns: More blackouts and energy shortages due to forced retirement of fossil fuel plants

03/05/2023 / By Arsenio Toledo

One of America’s largest grid operators has warned of more blackouts and energy shortages in the future, thanks to President Joe Biden’s green energy policies and their inability to meet the growing power demand.

PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization that provides electricity to 65 million people – around 20 percent of the population – in 13 states across the Midwest and Northeast and the District of Columbia. The organization’s latest report noted that power supply and demand through 2030 across its territory is being increasingly destabilized as more traditional fossil fuel sources are being dismantled due to the transition to renewable energy. (Related: Attacks on US power grid SURGED in 2022 and are likely to keep increasing this year.)

PJM Interconnection’s analysis showed power generator retirements outpacing new additions in the coming years.

“Retirements are at risk of outpacing the construction of new resources, due to a combination of industry forces, including siting and supply chain, whose long-term impacts are not fully known,” it said in its report.

These retirements could amount to nearly 40 gigawatts of generating capacity gone from the American grid by 2030, 90 percent of which comes from coal and natural gas sources.

Biden’s green energy policies destabilizing the power grid

The Biden administration has made it a goal to make 100 percent of all electricity generated in America to be carbon-free by 2035, and fossil fuel power generator retirements are a big part of this program. Coal retirements alone are expected to make up well over half of all planned generation retirements in 2023, amounting to 8.9 gigawatts of energy.

PJM’s report noted that most of these power plant retirements are “policy-driven.” The organization highlighted the fact that, by the end of March, complying with the Environmental Protection Agency’s new regulations would be far too costly to keep operating, forcing about 10.5 gigawatts worth of fossil fuel generation to shut down.

The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal noted that, without Biden’s green policies, PJM would typically generate a massive surplus of energy owing to the formerly large number of fossil fuel power generators it could draw electricity from at any time. All of this surplus energy would then be exported to neighboring regional grids to keep their energy supplies stable.

“When wind power plunged in the Midwest and central states late last week, PJM helped fill the gap between supply and demand and kept the lights on,” the board wrote. “That’s why it’s especially worrisome that PJM is predicting a large decline in its power reserves as coal and natural gas plants retire.”

Furthermore, PJM’s report noted that the construction of renewable energy power projects is not keeping up with fossil fuel plant retirements, even with all of the taxpayer-funded subsidies being lavished on wind and solar projects. The report added that the “historical rate of completion for renewable projects has been approximately five percent,” in part because of permitting challenges.

In the most optimistic scenario, there could be an additional 21 gigawatts of wind added to the grid by 2030 – slightly over half the amount of power lost due to fossil fuel retirements.

Learn more about energy supply issues and the possibility of more blackouts at EnergySupply.news.

Watch this episode of the “Health Ranger Report” as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, discusses how America’s power grid infrastructure is being deliberately dismantled to collapse the country.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.