The number of households using electric heat in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina increased by about 20% from 2009 to 2020 , according to government data that survey a sample of households. The generating capacity of power plants in the region, meanwhile, has remained relativity flat…
The push to electrify household appliances and heating has changed consumption patterns and created regions where electricity demand now peaks in both summer and winter, according to Sanjeet Sanghera, head of grids and utilities at BloombergNEF.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy launched the “Building a Better Grid” initiative, which will use $12.5 billion from the IIJA for grid reliability improvements. The IRA set aside $5 billion for direct loans for the construction, modification or repowering of generation and transmission facilities.
The wind, solar and grid additions alleviate problems for a region. The grid coming down into KY and the grids coming up into AL are major improvements that greatly add to TN’s electricity availability. The solar projects in the Carolinas free up a lot of energy for the region as well. The only region not getting a lot of resources is upper MT. There are plenty of resources be they coal etc in the region and a sparce population. Relatively speaking the area is getting resources as well. The grid along the edge of NV is interesting. That may well shore up all of CA.
Note TX has a separate grid from the rest of the contiguous states. There is some money there for TX but much less for the grid needs. OK and LA do get the money instead.
The grid from Canada to MA I believe is for Canadian hydro. The ME grid may be Canadian hydro as well.
The wind and solar are local and offset regional needs for electricity. With 80% of Americans living to the east of a line drawn up slight to the west of Houston, TX, you can see the wind and solar are needed in the east.
TN has the TVA which has the last built and operating nuclear plant in the US.
I would assume most grid loss is due to resistance. I^2r is costly. Presumably companies produce a bit more than they sell to make it available on demand.
What happens to unsold electricity? If it could be stored and used later there should be potential savings.
Electric cars and heat pumps push local power grids to their limits
Local power grids are threatening to become the bottleneck for the energy transition, an expert warns in the FAZ newspaper. According to estimates, their expansion would cost a three-digit billion sum…
But the energy industry is already warning that local power grids in cities and communities are reaching their performance limits. This is reported by the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ). According to the report, the German Federal Network Agency is therefore planning to temporarily ration the power supply to heat pumps and charging stations in order to protect the distribution networks from overload.
Starting in 2024, grid operators are to be given the option of “intervening in a controlling manner in order to be able to maintain secure grid operation,” the newspaper quotes from a key points paper of the grid agency. However, car owners should not have their electricity cut off in the event of bottlenecks. Thomas Müller, the head of the grid agency, told the FAZ that there would be “no complete shutdown.” “We want to guarantee a minimum supply at all times.” The talk is of charging times of three hours to be able to charge electric cars so that they can cover a distance of 50 kilometers [30 miles].
