Power companies and their grids are severely limited by the inability to lean on their neighbors for urgent electricity imports during summer heat waves and winter blizzards, according to a new analysis.
The yearlong study by the Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC), made up of 18 utilities and regional transmission coordinators, identifies infrastructure constraints on delivering power between regions — as well as a fuller analysis of the capacity for delivering power during weather emergencies.
The Eastern Interconnection is the bulk grid serving areas east of the Rocky Mountains, with high-voltage power lines connecting 700,000 megawatts of tightly synchronized generating capacity.
The EIPC analysis projects how much power the grid will require in 2033 based on demand projections. It charts weather threats based on 44 years of meteorological data. But the report cautioned that the picture is changing quickly. There is surging power demand from the big tech industry and renewable energy investment. High-voltage transmission lines under development will also shift power flows.
