Today’s LiveWire Spotlight examines NERC’s 2018-2019 Winter Assessment, which evaluates the reliability and adequacy of the BPS during this winter season. Although there are concerns in some spots, the study finds that the twenty-one geographical assessment areas located in the U.S., Canada, and Northern Mexico have sufficient resources to deliver this winter’s forecasted energy usage.
A massive transition to the use of natural gas-fired generation (upwards of 60-70% in some assessment areas) has led NERC to intensely focus on electricity-gas industry vulnerabilities. Little mention was made in the assessment of renewables, which will have an impact over the longer term.