livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
Doug Sheridan: New York Shows How Politicians Have Broken America's Grids
The FT reports that NY is confronting a tightening electricity supply just as demand begins to rise after a decade of stagnation. For years, NY expected electricity demand to remain flat, helped by efficiency gains. Regulators blocked proposals to modernize gas‑fired plants that supply most of NYC’s power, assuming offshore wind and other renewables would replace them.Our Take 1: NY is now paying the price for its prior dismissals of the importance of 24/7 dispatchable power, manifested as ill-considered bans on fracking—the state has large deposits of shale gas—along with effective bans on pipelines to deliver natural gas from Pennsylvania and other states in the region, as well as closure of the Indian Point nuclear facility in 2021.
Our Take 2: NY isn't the only state to find itself increasingly dependent on aging fossil fuel generating plants. Market-distorting subsidies and political favoritism toward wind and solar has forced Texas, Oklahoma, California and others to lean heavily on aging fossil-fuel infrastructure, as new gas-fired generation is hesitant to build on systems in which the deck is stacked against them in favor or intermittent wind and solar.
Doug Sheridan: New York Shows How Politicians Have Broken America's Grids
[Note: Another excellent analysis by Doug Sheridan here.
blackmon.substack.com