AMAC Exclusive
The dubiously titled “bipartisan infrastructure bill” that just passed the Senate this week includes $73 billion for so-called “upgrades” to the electrical grid. However, as Energy Secretary Granholm has made clear in multiple interviews, the bulk of these dollars will be used to connect intermittent renewable energy sources to the grid. In ignoring the real problems that face the aging American grid infrastructure, the bill completely ignores a true threat to US energy security.
For the last several years, the energy grid has been bordering on the brink of disaster. Those who live in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic will remember well the Winter of 2018-19, when a so-called “polar vortex” resulted in frozen windmills, snow-covered solar panels, and energy companies asking users to voluntarily turn their home thermostats to 58 degrees. The United States came dangerously close to multi-state blackouts then. But if President Biden doesn’t heed the earlier warnings of Trump administration energy officials, the country could potentially be headed for a far worse disaster.
In particularly cold and icy conditions, power stations are often hit with both increased demand from customers trying to stay warm and added strain on the system from the extreme weather, testing the resiliency of the grid. Thankfully, in the case of 2019’s polar vortex, supply just barely met demand, avoiding the worst-case scenario for millions of Americans.
Millions of Texans weren’t so lucky last winter. In that case, subfreezing temperatures combined with an ill-timed shutdown of natural gas pipelines did result in winter blackouts. Approximately 200 people lost their lives from hypothermia or other conditions related to the cold. Meanwhile, homes and businesses without power and heat experienced extensive damage from frozen water pipes. As with the aforementioned polar vortex, an overreliance on intermittent renewable energy was a major contributing factor.
Coal plants, with their large on-site fuel reserves (coal piles), played a major role in “keeping the lights on” in both cases. Despite environmentalist pipe dreams, this nation still needs coal, particularly during extreme weather events. In fact, according to the Energy Information Administration, fossil fuel plants provided 79% of the country’s electricity in 2020, while intermittent renewable energy like wind and solar only provided about 5%.
To help prevent the very situation that occurred in Texas last year from happening, the Trump Administration urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to conduct an in-depth study on “grid resiliency” in 2017. In the energy sector, “resiliency” refers to the grid’s capability to respond to extreme or “upset” conditions. When energy grids aren’t resilient, supply can’t meet demand, causing equipment failures and blackouts of cities and states for hours or even days.
The Trump administration asked for the study because it recognized the potential for catastrophe that premature closure of coal plants could create. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said at the time that “a reliable and resilient electrical grid is critical not only to our national and economic security, but also to the everyday lives of American families,” going on to emphasize how “a diverse mix of power generation resources, including those with on-site reserves, is essential to the reliable delivery of electricity.”
Unfortunately, the Commission (which included commissioners appointed by Democrats) didn’t act swiftly. In fact, they didn’t act at all. Then in February of this year, as soon as the Biden administration came into office and appointed a new FERC chair, the study was canceled. Incredibly, the cancelation was in the midst of the Texas emergency – an emergency Secretary Perry had urged the Commission to prepare for.
Neal Chatterjee, FERC Chairman under President Trump and now a FERC Commissioner, understood what a mistake it was to cancel the study, saying that “we are failing the American people by kicking this can further down the road in the middle of a crisis affecting millions of Americans.”
Coal plant retirements notwithstanding, the Biden administration is ignoring a serious concern about the health and reliability of America’s remaining coal fleet. These plants are being forced to operate in an intermittent fashion beyond their design capabilities. Why? Because regulations favor renewable energy, including wind and solar – the very energy sources that millions of Texans found out the hard way that they couldn’t rely on last year.
Our coal fleet was designed to run at full capacity, 24 hours a day, for months on end without interruption. The coal plants and the people that staff them are very good at doing that.
But because of misguided left-wing policies that give renewables first priority, solar and wind generators are allowed to dump their subsidized power onto the grid during peak generation. When this happens, coal plants are forced to operate at a greatly reduced capacity. According to industry experts, this type of operation can result in permanent damage to coal plants that may cause equipment failures at a time when those plants are needed most.
Consumers and voters would be wise to understand that policy makers, politicians, and regulators are making decisions about grid resilience while enjoying a stable grid built on a foundation of fossil fuels. It is very easy to make idealistic pronouncements about being carbon free as one sits in an air-conditioned office on Capitol Hill. But when the air conditioning shuts down and the lights go out, we may find those decisions were dangerously out of touch with reality.
Republicans mascot an elephant!! What a deceitful image! They can’t stop stomping on their own feet let alone stomping on us with their leadership with the donkey democrats!! Chicken littles!! We Americans need to do the stomping out of both parties to see One Nation Under God with our constitution and freedom! Kindergartens at play!! Make sure kindergartens don’t go to school, they’re find out how they play and kick ass and stomp them out!! What a disgrace !!
What makes you think that the boob in the White House would take care of this too! He can’t freaking do anything else. Time to get out Biden…….clock is ticking!
yOU REPUBLICANS ALREADY HAVE SO LITTLE POWER IN THE FED GOVTS. YOU CANNOT STOP A THREE TRILLION BILL FROM RACING THRU–INSTEAD OF SITTING ON THE WEB AND BULL SH–TING WHY DON’T YTOU DO ACTION INSTEAD?AT LEAST W3HEN WE ARE ALL DEAD OUR TRAPPED RELATIVES WILL SAY”AT LEAST THEY TRIED TO SAVE IT,TOO LATE., AT THE END!!””
HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE TAPPED POWER OR INFLUENCE IN THE PENTAGON??
WHAT IS THE BLOODY PENTAGON AND FED GOVT MILITARY DOING RIGHT NOW??IS EVERY REPUBLICAN IN OFFICE COMPLETELY CUT AWAY FROM OUR MILITARY??IS THAT OUR FATE EVERY REPUB WAS SO CUT OFF FROM THE PENTAGON AND HIGH UP MILITARY THAT YOU ARE IMPOTENT??
HEY IM An old female aND DO I HAVE TO JAB YOU GUYS IN THE GUT???where are your male guts??!!NO ONE HAs any connection to the military??for god’s sake no wonder we’re failing into the red pit!!
Yeah, don’t worry about them! It’s just 200 Texans who died… ” Liberal Democrat a-holes…(I’m a Texan, by the way! My wife of almost 50 years lives on oxygen, but the power company7, who KNEW she needed power for her air concentrator, didn’t seem to give a crap, and they turned our power off for almost 48 hours. Asshat liberals and their asshat “Save the World! Kill the Texans” bullshit…
If any of our enemies decided to attack the US they would start by exploding nuclear weapons at high altitude over our country which would generate electromagnetic pulses that would wipe out our electric grid for a long time. If the sun emitted an EMP in exactly the right direction, it could do the same thing. Our government is well aware of this problem and could reduce the problem by hardening key points of the grid. Any money allocated to improve the grid that does not address this problem is a dereliction of duty by our law makers.
Miss President Reagan
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2020 Natural Gas Annual reports that the volume of U.S. natural gas that was vented and flared in 2019 was 1.48 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). As I understand it, this gas does not produce energy but was just wasted, it may be simplistic but it would seem to me that is sad. I’m a former coal miner who was put out of work due to government interference/regulation.
Do not give up so easily. You start out “the people do not care” & that is wrong because I am convinced that large percentage do care & I am one of the people. Write or call your representatives and voice your opinions, vote in every election, but do not give in so easily after 7-months.
Article states in 2020, fossil fuels supplied 79% of our electricity & wind/solar 5%. Was the remaining 16% from Hydroelectric dams, which is our cleanest & cheapest power source. Biden admin. needs to take a hard look at these numbers before Green Deal gets rid of fossil fuels, as the year 2020 was only one year ago. AMERICA needs a plan that will keep us operating.
Watching news about a month ago, several of the power grid stations have $1 Billion transformers that we buy from China & take a year to build (weight 500-tons). Sounds like none are built in USA at this time. It should be top priority of the POTUS to protect our grid system from Cyberattacks. We have been warned & we should act offensively to stop all these attacks in USA.
Biden infra. bill is to mainly install electric battery charging stations in US. The biggest worry in my opinion is Cyberattack that could shut our power grids down. That is where our money & security forces should spend time & money. If our power grid is shut down, it does not matter what source of power comes from. The Colonial pipeline attack & ensuing problems should be a wake-up call to Washington,DC and POTUS.
REMEMBER….. Communism, like Socialism is FOR The People! It is NOT for the Communists or Socialists because THEY do not live by the rules they use to enforce over WE THE PEOPLE!
The rich tech oligarchs that run the Democratic Party will not suffer if a blackout occurs because they have the resources to generate their own power. They do not care a rat’s whisker about the rest of us. What do I care about global warming when the temperature is -10 degrees Fahrenheit and there is no power? I fail to understand why rational intelligent human beings vote for these Democratic idiots.
I believe that the group running the Country believes that this time on Earth is their Heaven…you know…the saying…”I have one life to live”…and they live selfishly…God knows that it is difficult…for a rich person to get into Heaven…and God also knows what’s happening in the world…
I also…get angry and frustrated…but when I read the comments…I realize that most citizens are feeling the same hurt and neglect…I relate…It is so difficult to remain hopeful…
I have worked as an operator in the power generation industry my entire career. I started back in 1980 when things were controlled by the Public Utility Commission. Lots of things have changed since then! We need more natural gas fired peaker plants that have the capability of almost instantaneous production to meet grid spikes and/or major plant trips and outages. Natural gas fired combustion turbines are not as vulnerable to unseasonable cold weather due to the absence of large steam and water systems, They are, however, subject to the supply of natural gas. During times of extreme cold, natural gas may be expensive, but still available to efficiently produce electricity. Solar and wind (renewables) are NOT reliable energy producers and are NOT efficient. True Environmentalists understand that solar and wind will not meet demands.
I think he’s “ignoring” things on purpose to kill this country. He ignores the border crisis. Gas and other commodities prices are rising. It’s all intended to create dependence on the government so the Dems stay in power.
It may come to the beginning of the end of the United States of America sooner than we think if nothing is being done to solve it.
In all the comments I read on here, not ONE person has hit on who is actually running this country: Obama and Soros. I wrote two of my Senators and neither one addressed in their replies why George Soros is allowed to remain in this country while funding other countries to send their criminals, abandoned children, and other illegals here to tear the US down, to bankrupt the US, and to expect honest taxpayers to take care of them for free. American voters apathy got us where we are and it will stay that way until legal AMERICANS STAND UP for their country. We need to stop pointing fingers and placing blame. We have only ourselves to account for the problems our precious country is now facing. As Earl Pitts says: STAND UP AMERIKA!!!! I say: PAT PAULSEN FOR PRESIDENT!!!
Yes James, a vast percentage of the American public has become soft, weak-willed and too apathetic or cowardly to act even in the face of an obvious, open and immediate threat to the fundamental integrity of the country. They just sit there and think all they have to do is wait patiently until the 2022 elections roll around and then everything will be magically fixed.
Well all this transformative legislation, that is being enacted into law, doesn’t magically go away, even if the Republicans win back both houses of Congress after the mid-terms. It would all have to be repealed and all the new government programs being formed would have to be completely dismantled. Does anyone honestly think that is going to occur? Washington is fast to pass spending bills, but they are very s-l-o-w to ever repeal any legislation.
Have people really NOT learned anything from the farce that was known as the repeal of Obamacare in 2017. Most of the Republicans couldn’t get out of their own way (intentionally because they didn’t want to be known as the party that took the “free stuff” away or be accused of “not being nice”), as they did their best impression of the Keystone Cops. The entire first year of Trump’s presidency was wasted in waiting for what both Ryan and McConnell promised Trump and the American people would be a quick fix. Well Obamacare, which is still with us in thousands of pages of CMS rules and regs to the medical sector of our economy, would be child’s play compared to all the new government programs being created in the last 7 months. With more on the way!
At the rate the left is intentionally ramming through permanent transformational changes to our country, they will have locked in enough permanent changes to ensure will be locked into a socialist model of governance.
P.S.
I think you summed things up quite accurately.
The Biden administration is ignoring everything that threatens America.Midterms are coming up, one way to stop this is to “dump the Dems” and return control of the house and Senate to the republicans.The progressive socialists are a real and present threat to the freedoms we still have.There is still hope if all freedom loving patriotic Americans stand together.”United We Stand, Divided We Fall”……… and Biden and his administration is doing all they can to divide this once united nation. Wars, natural disasters, pandemics, foreign attacks on our soil, and political corruption were once events that united this country. Regardless of race, creed, or ethnicity. America came together for a common good……… To help one another and this country .Political and personal agendas were not priority, uniting the country was. Dump The Dems and take America back !
Even without an EMP attack , a coordinated attack on many unguarded electrical sub – stations in ordinary neighborhoods all over a region could leave huge areas blacked out for years , as afterward we find out that all the critical components come from … China ! – The Federal government has been aware of this for over twenty years.
If you people were as patriotic as you pretend to be you would not be joining the rest of the news media by ignoring Mike Lindell. You would be demanding removal of Biden and imprisonment of the guilty members of the Biden crime organization.
They won’t do anything about our grid because they want us to go down; then they can usher in their NWO!!! What a disgrace!
After what we saw in Texas this winter, this should make people furious. However, the lemmings that are driving their kids to their soccer matches and spending an inordinate amount of time on the Democrat propaganda are…social media…are totally oblivious to this congressional bipartisan scam going on. I know one thing, I’m not voting for one Republican who voted for this. I have to see how the (2) senators and my one congressman voted, but they will not get my vote if they gave a yea vote.
As with most media outlets today, this article is much too transfixed on a real, but secondary issue. Puppets Biden and Harris are right on track with doing the grunt work of their radical back room socialist and globalist puppeteers to implode the US Dollar into a meaningless piece of currency while addicting a significant majority of gullible citizens to government dependency through bogus giveaway and bailout programs masquerading as COVID pandemic relief. Thus far, they have been reasonably successful, but are pushing hard for a clear majority via vaccine mandate mechanisms, as well as social, academic and cultural propaganda against those who refuse to swallow the bait and are finally pushing back.
This is it, folks. The radical left is going for the home run in 2022 by stealing and sealing the mid-terms via contrived mail-in and fake ballots by the hundreds of thousands in key contested elections while a timid and compliant GOP establishment looks on and wrings its hands. With the useful idiot media in their pockets and proven COVID scare tactics in their ammo belts, they are betting the farm that they will be on the broad highway to globalist domination before they have to throw Biden under the bus in 2024 to make way for a worldwide administration.
Think it can’t happen? Just watch, wait and listen. It’s happening right now in broad daylight…….
The Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well! Anything that President Trump was for, the Demsheviks are against – even if it means shooting themselves in the foot (for Demsheviks, it’s actually both feet!). The cancellation of the study on “grid resiliency” is yet another example of this and reinforces their motto, “We will snatch DEFEAT out of the jaws of victory!”
Unfortunately, our nation will continue to suffer such dysfunctional activities as this until the 2022 elections returns the Congress to Republican hands and in 2024 when America returns President Trump to the White House. The unfortunate aspect of all this is that it will probably take President Trump the entire four years of his next presidency to undo much of the damage being done to our country currently by the Demshevik hordes (actually, infestation).
When a political party’s agenda is all about power and spending money on that and pork, you ignore the real problems. Part of that power is derived from their relationship with special interests. Here we have the radical environmentalists calling the shots.
The article was good but I read it all and read all of the comments. Not once was the real possibility of an EMP was never mentioned! Our electrical grid is in such a sad state of repairs that an EMP could put us back in to the dark ages in seconds!! Monies are spent on silly stuff like millions for getting more female semi-truck drivers!
The only problem with getting rid of this POS false person is that we have a worse POS false person waiting to take over. We are doomed to darkness.
Will America rise up and defend herself, or just watch the slow annihilation? It would appear to be the latter. Shameful and sad. This winter will obviously get everyone’s attention! Thanks DOJ for defending yourselves and not the citizens you serve!
Something else this country needs is oversight of the utility companies that ensures THEY are keeping up with the equipment upgrades they’ve been supposed to do right along!! They put more money back into their profits so stockholders are happy, instead of keeping up the repairs to the grid that THEY are required to do!!
It’s all part of the Globalists’ “Great Reset.” That includes eliminating the middle class as much as possible, increasing the government dependent welfare class and depopulation through pison vaccines.
Joe has never been a competent representative of the people… not ever in almost HALF a CENTURY in politics… he’s been hanging off the gov’t hind teat, pretending to serve his constituents while actually serving only himself, lots and LOTS of $$$$$ !!!
We all know “how” we got to this place…
And I’m sick of ‘hearing’ about these communist politicos and their plans to fully destroy every freedom Americans have enjoyed for 200+ years.
I want ‘IMMEDIATE Effective Action’ to remove these invalid, anti-American, interloping ENEMIES from every position of power and authority they now occupy! And don’t tell me to “go vote”!!!
…. The entire WORLD KNOWS the 2020 Election WAS “technologically hijacked”.
And all those who participated in orchestrating and implementing it are “CRIMINALS” in every sense of the word & as such, must be charged, arrested & fully and competently prosecuted.
I no longer believe this COMMUNIST PLOT TO ROB US OF OUR LIBERTIES “can” be settled with words. Words, Pacts,Treaties, etc., NEVER WORK WHEN DEALING WITH POLITICAL CRIMINALS.
It’s time to CUT AWAY THIS CANCEROUS GROWTH FROM AMERICA’S BODY…. or Freedom shall surely die.
Something missing from this analysis is the need to have generation resources to balance the output swings that are constant with renewables. Hydro-electric plants are the best resource for this need. Look at the reservoirs in the west and you’ll see most of them have no water. The Columbia River is the only significant one with water, but it’s ability to do so is diminished by the numerous other interests. There aren’t any new hydro resources planned. Pumped storage facilities would help, but I don’t see any money to help them get built or permit streamlining for ones being considered. They are very expensive and need higher energy costs to pencil. Perhaps we’ll get there soon. Gas turbines are the other good load balancing resources, but they’re not getting built these days.
Why should this or any other ignorant, anti-American socialist ideology come as a surprise to people with IQs way above 72, or more commonly known as “non-democrats?” These people openly hate this country and are working at a frantic pace to destroy everything resembling a strong, free American society. So long as we sit back and foolishly believe the situation isn’t as dire as it is or that those political hacks on the right side of the aisle will ever do more than talk about the true insurrectionists on the left, we are helping to dig our own graves. I don’t want to end up in jail any more than any American but the time for talking is quickly running out and we won’t have any choice if we still want to live in a free country with rights that are the greatest example to the rest of the world as they fight their own idiot socialist/communist governments. We are stronger, they are just louder.
biteme is public enema # 1! Or is pubic enema #1?
Biden isn’t “stupid” – He is a career organized crime , treasonous , enemy of America , soros-socialist / communist criminal following the NWO agenda goals of trashing America .Everything he has done was intentionally against us ! So are harris , pelosi & schumer , et al..
The man is stupid to the facts doesn’t know what he is doing some one is talking for him
Seems like the Democrats create a disaster so they can come to the rescue with more spending (translated pork and padding their own pockets) and with a solution that only makes the problem worse.
One thing this article does not address is the additional load placed on the grid by all the electric vehicle liberals want to put on the road.
This “administration” seems to ignore-ant of much.
we need to take back control of the house & presidency!! These people are a disgrace to our country!
They WANT a disaster. Simple as that.
As usual, the obvious real need for upgrades and repairs to this part of the infrastructure is not on their agenda….they are pushing “green” and as the article says, setting us up for failure. I still do not understand how thinking people can not see this coming. I still am amazed at the ignorance of the polititians who persist in failing to act responsibly. I still marvel at the lack of push back by republicans who claim to have our best interest at heart…..all rhetoric, no action. This is the state of the nation: serious needs, poor leadership, failed policies, and rehash of the old song and dance (what was called the Potomac Two Step in the movie, Patriot Games). I once heard that “insanity” is the act of doing the same thing again and again, expecting a different outcome. By that definition, all of what is happening, and has been happening (for the past 50 years) is “insanity” in the extreme. When the lights go out, and the people bake or freeze, and suffering is at the maximum….expect no different approach from the government…..people will have to fend for themselves, or starve and die……or take action that will end in destruction of the culture as we know it.
Perhaps when all these slackers who are glued to their cell phones and video games will get off their butts and open their eyes to reality…..probably not.
This is only part of a bigger problem, and my remakes are a little off the article specific subject, how long are the American people going to stand for the Biden/Harris or the Harris /Biden’s Administration and their failed policies, they have failed on the border , they have failed economy, they have failed on energy, they have failed on covid-19, they have failed on race relations, they have failed on jobs, they have failed on foreign policy, and now they are going to spend money on the green new deal and not solve the problems with the electrical grid. The Biden bozo’s have not accomplice one thing in 7 months except further destruction of America aa Obama was doing.
P.S. and know they have failed in Afghanistan, what a bunch of losers !!!!!
I am concerned about solar flare storms and E.M.P. (electro magnetic pulse) bombs damaging our electrical grid. No mention of them. Why?
Michiganders are suitably embarrassed by the 2 recent female governors. Both Granholm and Wittmer have proven to be well Left enough to not give a Dump about proper policy or responsibilities, only their agenda.
Not surprised; REPUBLICANS are just as GUILTY as the DIMS for being so complacent…
I am very thankful in Fremont, NE to have a coal fired plant. During bad winter conditions we seem to function very well. I pray and hope that Biden does not shut this plant down. It has been up dated over the years to meet most of the clean air standards. We can sell some power back to the grid when needed.
Until Americans elect Conservative representatives at all levels of our government there will be no end to the STUPID coming out of Washington, DC and our state capitols.