PA Environment Digest Blog: Senate Environmental, Consumer Protection Committees To Hold Feb. 27 Hearing On Grid Reliability And Winter Storm Elliot

On February 6, the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure and Environmental Resources and Energy Committees announced they will host a February 27 hearing on electric grid reliability and Winter Storm Elliot.

December Winter Storm Elliot Freeze

On January 11, members of the PJM Interconnection, the regional electric grid operator that includes Pennsylvania, reported in a preliminary review of the impact of Winter Storm Elliott, that natural gas-fired power plants failed to provide power at over triple the rate of other technologies and fossil fuel power plants generally failed at an "unacceptable" level, according to PJM.

"As we called [generation] reserves, a significant portion of [the generation] fleet failed to perform," PJM said in its presentation.

Bloomberg reported 70 percent of the almost 46 GW of outages were natural gas plants.

Forced generation outages during the coldest part of the storm on December 24 found 32,473 MW of natural gas-fired generation off-line, 7,562 MW of coal-fired generation and 5,917 MW of nuclear, oil, wind, solar, according to PJM.

The primary reasons for the outages were plant equipment failure, lack of fuel supply and start/failure and unit trips.

PJM said 92 percent of all outages were reported to them with less than an hour's notice or with no notice at all.

PJM said a major factor was the significant decline in natural gas production in Appalachia (Marcellus and Utica Shales) in Pennsylvania and other states which saw a nearly 30 percent drop in daily production.

Nationwide, PJM said, there was a 20 percent decline in natural gas production.

PJM also mentioned coming penalties on generators for failure to perform when called-- "Power plants have already received payment for promises of reliable service in this year's capacity auction, and the penalties that will come in the wake of this storm will only be a fraction of what they have already received."

Bloomberg reported generators may face up to $2 billion in penalties.

February Cold Weather Alert

On February 1, the PJM Interconnection, the regional electric grid operator that includes Pennsylvania, issued a Cold Weather Alert and declared Conservative Operations throughout the PJM footprint for February 3–4 in anticipation of frigid temperatures.

With the Cold Weather Alert and a preceding Cold Weather Advisory issued Jan. 31, PJM and members prepare for possible severe conditions.

A Cold Weather Alert prepares personnel and facilities for expected extreme cold weather conditions when actual temperatures fall near or below 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures are expected to fall to the single digits Friday and Saturday throughout the region PJM serves.

Transmission and generation owners must take extra care to maintain equipment so that it does not freeze. This preparation includes:

-- Implementing physical protection against the cold, including wind breaks or shelters around equipment, temporary heaters and other actions

-- Notifying PJM of any changes caused by cold weather to availability of generation, fuel inventories, fuel switching capability or other constraints

During a Cold Weather Alert, PJM may also cancel or postpone planned maintenance outages in order to ensure availability of sufficient resources.

Conservative Operations can be declared when all or part of PJM’s footprint is undergoing, or has the potential to face, adverse impacts from a variety of circumstances or combination of circumstances, including weather, environmental, physical or cyber security events.

The declaration of Conservative Operations may include additional reliability actions, including--

-- Recalling/canceling noncritical maintenance outages

-- Reducing transfers of power into, across or through the PJM system

-- Increasing reserves

-- Making additional requests to transmission owners and/or generation owners

Visit the PJM Interconnection website for more information.

The hearing will be held in Room 8E-B East Wing Capitol Building starting at 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch the hearing live.

Sen. Patrick Stefano (R-Fayette) serves as Majority Chair of the Consumer Protection Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7175 or sending email to: pstefano@pasen.gov. Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Lehigh) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-4236 or sending email to: boscola@pasenate.com.

Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) serves as Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-3280 or sending email to: gyaw@pasen.gov. Sen. Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-5709 or sending email to: senatorcomitta@pasenate.com.

NewsClips:

-- UnionProgress.com - Laura Legere: ‘Unacceptable’ Power Plant Failures During Christmas Storm Could Lead To $2 Billion In Penalties

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Christmas Holiday Freeze Froze Off Sizable Portion Of Appalachia’s Natural Gas Production Cutting Off Supply To Power Plants When They Needed It Most [Gas Generation Dropped By 22% In PJM]

-- PJM Interconnection: PJM Operated Reliably Throughout Winter Storm Challenges, But ‘Generator Forced Outages Were Unacceptable’

-- Bloomberg: PJM Electric Grid Operator Had 23% Power Plant Failure In December Storm [Natural Gas Plants Accounted For 70% Of Almost 46 GW Of Outages]

-- Utility Dive: PJM Generators Face Up To $2 Billion In Penalties For Failing To Provide Power During Christmas Winter Storm Elliot [Poor Performance By Gas-Fired Generators Could Lead To Political Fallout]

-- Reuters: Grid Operator PJM Probes U.S. Power Supply Woes During December Storm [70% Of Units That Didn’t Supply Power Were Fueled By Natural Gas]

-- Reuters: Winter Storm Elliot In December Hit Oil Production, Refinery Sites With Freeze-Ins, Equipment Failures

-- PennFuture Blog: What We Learned During Christmas Deep Freeze - You Can’t Rely On Natural Gas To Generate Electric Power When It’s Cold - By Rob Altenburg [Part I]

-- PennFuture Blog: Lessons From December Deep Freeze - Don’t Put All Our Energy Generation Eggs In One Basket - By Rob Altenburg [Part II]

-- U.S. EIA: Over The Last 20 Years, Natural Gas Displaced Most Coal-Fired Electric Generation In PA [From 2% Of Generation To 52% In 2021]

-- PA Capital-Star: How Did Renewables Fare During Winter Storm Elliott In December? [Fossil Fuel Failures, Natural Gas Shortages, Wind & Solar Performed As Forecasts Projected]

Related Articles - Electric Grid Freeze:

-- PJM’s Preliminary Review Of Christmas Storm Electric Generation Failures Shows Natural Gas Units Failed To Provide Power At Over Triple The Rate Of Other Generation [PaEN]

-- PJM Interconnection ‘Possibility Of Rotating Customer Outages Is Real’ - A Mix Of Power Plants In The System Are ‘Not Performing’ - Filing DOE Emergency Power Request [Request Ended] [PaEN]

-- Natural Gas Industry, Senate Republicans Launch Effort To Unleash The Industry, Reduce Regulation, Call For Automatic Approval Of Permits, Limit Public Comments [PaEN]]

PA DEP Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Feb. 4 to Feb. 10 - 12 NOVs For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - Feb. 11 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 57 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In Feb. 11 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Compliance Reports:

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’ [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts [PaEN]