FRANKFORT, KY (November 18, 2022) – The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is warning of the likelihood of blackouts, brownouts and electricity this shortage this winter. In a report released Thursday, John Moura, NERC’s director of Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis said, “while the grid has a sufficient supply of capacity resources under normal winter conditions, we are concerned that some areas are highly vulnerable to extreme and prolonged cold. As a result, load-shedding may be required to maintain reliability.”
In response to NERC’s report, KCA President Tucker Davis released the following statement:
“Electricity is vital to a modern economy, but more and more often our country is seeing electricity shortages, blackouts, brownouts and forced reduction of use. This simply didn’t have to happen. It was planned and an intentional part of the left’s war on coal. In 2008, coal provided more than 50 percent of the nation’s electricity. At that time, electricity was affordable, reliable and abundant.
“Between 2009 and today, almost 300 coal powerplants – 40 percent of the nation’s coal-fired generation fleet, has been closed and another 27,000 MW of coal-fired generation in 24 states is expected to retire in the next two years. It is clear that shutting down our nation’s coal-fired generation fleet has been a mistake. We simply can’t afford to continue down this road. These closures are leaving widespread energy poverty and economic destruction in their wake. We urge our elected representatives to take the steps needed not only to stop further closures of coal-fired power generation, but also to reverse the policies of the Obama and Biden administrations. We need more affordable-reliable coal-fired electricity, not less.”
