DOE report warns of widespread reliability risks, accelerated by conventional plant retirements

AI generated summary

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a report indicating significant reliability risks for the U.S. electric grid, particularly as conventional power plants continue to retire. The report warns that by 2030, the risk of blackouts could increase by 100 times if the current trend continues, with an estimated 104 gigawatts (GW) of baseload generation expected to be retired. Additionally, the growth in electricity demand, driven largely by data centers and artificial intelligence, is projected to require an additional 100 GW of peak-hour supply.

While the U.S. has ample generation capacity in interconnection queues, approximately 95% of this is renewable energy, which the DOE argues may not meet reliability demands. The report introduces new metrics to assess reliability risks, highlighting that even without any plant retirements, the risk of blackouts could still rise significantly due to load growth. This underscores the urgent need for firm capacity additions to ensure grid stability and reliability.