What others are saying

Below is a collection of quotes from industry experts, policymakers, officials, and others on various electrical grid issues. Use the filters below to find perspectives on topics like coal retirements, reliability, regulations and more.

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“When we start a new transmission line today, it’s a 10-year process because nobody wants transmission. So, if it’s brand new and doesn’t have the right aways, we’re going to have to do condemnations, which is going to be tied up in court from cradle to grave. It’s a 10-year process at least so I think to say that it’s going to save the day is a fallacy right now that’s going to take more time. I get that we’re going to get there some time, but not in the short term.”

Tony Campbell

President and CEO

East Kentucky Power Cooperative

FERC 2023 Reliability Technical Conference

11/09/2023

“When I read some of the EPA documents when they were releasing the rule, one thing really struck me was a quote. They said the power sector has a broad set of tools to deploy clean, affordable energy, take advantage of ready to go advance pollution technology, create and retain good paying jobs and reduce energy costs for families and businesses. Now you can debate many of the things in that quote, but to suggest that this rule or the energy transition as a whole is going to reduce costs, energy costs for Americans? That’s just irresponsible. That is not what we’re looking at. And we can’t keep promising that to people.”

Julie Fedorchak

Commissioner

North Dakota Public Service Commission

FERC 2023 Reliability Technical Conference

11/09/2023

“As we sit here today, we cannot run a system on 100% renewables.”

Asim Haque

Senior Vice President

CNHINews: Reliability of power grid in Pa. threatened as energy sources dwindle: industry experts

11/02/2023

“If you’re going to do a transition to a different set of generation, it’s going to take time to make that happen,” Matheson said. “What’s bad policy is forcing closure of reliable assets that therefore compromise electric reliability of the grid.”

Jim Matheson

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)

Politico Grid Reliability Event

10/26/2023

“Commissioner Christie said the red lights are flashing, problems are coming. The problem generally is not the addition of intermittent resources primarily wind and solar but the far too rapid subtraction of dispatchable resources especially coal and gas.”

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)

Ranking Member

Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

05/04/2023

[On whether we are getting enough gas units build] “Looking at the PJMQ which is the line of units that want to get in and interconnected, about 90% of it is Wind, Solar or Batteries. I think only 4% is gas. The problem is that we are not getting enough new gas generation to provide backup to the increased deployment of wind and solar. The answer is no, we are not getting enough new. The bigger problem is the gas units we have increasingly can’t get the fuel supply to run as either baseload units that run all the time or as peaker units that have to be called in. It really is a matter of supply. If they can’t get the fuel supply then they can’t provide the power supply.”

Mark Christie

Commissioner

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

House Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy Subcommittee

06/13/2023

“It makes no sense at all to take tools out of the toolbox. No energy resource is immune to weather disruptions whether that be frozen wind turbines, frozen gas wells, or frozen coal stockpiles, all of which we saw in recent winters.” […] “There is no doubt that our electric grid is undergoing a rapid transition both in generation sources and in the types of demand the grid is called on to serve. The speed of this transition must be balanced against reliability and affordability of electricity.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Chairman

Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

FERC Oversight Hearing

05/04/2023