A national grid watchdog released its winter outlook Thursday
The electrical grid that covers Kansas and western Missouri is expected to have plenty of power to keep up with demand this winter. But in the event of severe weather, the St. Louis area could be at risk.
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation released its winter outlook Thursday assessing potential vulnerabilities to the grid. The need for a more reliable grid has been a frequent topic of discussion for utilities since a cold snap in February 2021 knocked out power in Texas and forced rolling blackouts in the Midwest.
NERC found some areas, including Texas, still face the risk of not having enough power during peak demand.
“At a high level, we found that a large portion of North America is at risk of insufficient electricity supplies during peak winter conditions,” Mark Olson, manager for reliability assessments at NERC, said during a news conference.
He said the good news is that “almost all areas are well prepared for normally occurring or average winter years.”
In Kansas and western Missouri, the Southwest Power Pool, has added more natural gas generation since last winter and should have enough power even when demand is high and some power supplies are unavailable, according to NERC.
Midcontinent System Operator — which covers eastern Missouri, the upper midwest and parts of the south — has less reserve power than last year because of coal and nuclear power plants being retired.
Extreme weather, the report says, could force residents to reduce their energy use, but it says load shedding is “unlikely.” Load shedding is when utilities force outages for a few hours to keep the grid from becoming overwhelmed and leading to a blackout.
SPP was forced to shed load during a historic cold snap in February 2021 largely because natural gas was difficult to come by.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Latest state news:
Kansas lawmakers pass trio of crime bills dealing with juvenile justice, fentanyl
New bills passed in the last frenzied days of the legislative session would allow Kansans to seek potentially life-saving drug overdose treatment without fear of arrest, expand parameters for teenagers held in state custody and increase penalties for fentanyl-related crimes.
Open enrollment starts soon in Kansas schools. At least one district says there’s no space available
A state law passed in 2022 goes into effect this year and lets Kansas students attend schools outside the districts where they live, as long as there is space available. Some districts have begun posting the number of slots they’ll have open for out-of-district students.