America’s Power Statement on NERC 2023 Summer Reliability Assessment

For Immediate Release 

May 17, 2023

Contact: Michelle Bloodworth 

MBloodworth@AmericasPower.org 

Washington, D.C. – America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth issued the following statement in response to the release of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2023 Summer Reliability Assessment:   

“The 2023 Summer Reliability Assessment makes clear that electric grid reliability is increasingly weather dependent as the power system transitions to a greater reliance on wind and solar. Two-thirds of the country is flagged at an elevated risk of capacity shortfalls should there be high electricity demand and low wind and solar output; a likely scenario since wind and solar on their best day are intermittent sources of energy. Without adequate battery storage, which the U.S. lacks, high electricity demand will needlessly expose consumers to potential power outages. Coal is more than five times as dependable as wind and more than twice as dependable as solar when electricity demand is greatest, yet bad public policy and EPA regulations are forcing the closures of coal plants. Utilities have already announced plans to retire more than 40 percent of the remaining U.S. coal fleet by 2030, possibly one reason that NERC President Jim Robb has warned of a disorderly and too quick retirement of older generation.”

### 

America’s Power is a partnership of industries

involved in producing electricity from coal.