Clean energy helped the grid avoid heat-wave catastrophe

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Last week brought soaring temperatures to much of the U.S., forcing Americans to switch on their air conditioners — or, in many cases, flex their heat pumps’ cooling capabilities. And to cope with it all, the U.S. power grid delivered more electricity than ever — a feat that wouldn’t have been possible without clean energy’s massive growth over the past few years.

Temperatures in the triple digits prompted grid operators across the U.S. to prepare for potential emergencies. PJM Interconnection, which covers parts of the Midwest and East Coast, was granted federal authorization to direct data centers and other large power users to tap diesel generators and battery backup systems as a ​“last resort” to prevent power shutoffs. But the grid region didn’t end up needing those emergency resources, even as its power demand reached its highest level on record.

Texas, meanwhile, set a record for peak demand in any July — 83 gigawatts on the evening of July 6. Solar power, which Texas has recently added in spades, covered more than 30% of that demand, Texas energy expert Doug Lewin noted. Solar also helped Texas’ grid operator avoid the need to push customers to conserve power.

In New England, it was wind power that proved to be a hero as temperatures soared. The region burned less oil this time around than it did during a similar heat wave last year, per Grid Status, thanks in large part to offshore wind farms that have recently come online. The New England Clean Energy Connect power line, which started delivering electricity earlier this year, also brought in tons of hydropower from Canada.

Wind similarly played a strong role in keeping the lights on in the Southwest Power Pool, which spans the central U.S. from North Dakota down to northern Texas.

New York City’s sparkling new transmission line, which was supposed to bolster the city’s grid during heat waves like this one, was unfortunately a letdown. The Champlain Hudson Power Express, or CHPE (pronounced ​“chippy”), has been bringing clean hydropower from Canada into the city for the last month, but an issue in Quebec forced the line to shut down on July Fourth. The heat wave was luckily on its last legs by that time, and CHPE isn’t essential to New York grid operations just yet. But it’s set to become a vital power source as aging natural gas plants begin to retire.

Aside from a few short-lived outages scattered across the eastern half of the U.S., the grid weathered its first test of the summer pretty darn well. Still, with climate change making summer heat more extreme, and with more and more data centers and other large power users coming online, we’re far from out of the woods yet.

More big energy stories

Hawaiʻi is retreating from its clean energy ambitions

Back in 2015, Hawaiʻi set the first statewide clean electricity goal in the country, aiming for a system run completely on renewable electricity by 2045. But as that deadline creeps closer, the state is considering retreating toward fossil fuels, reports Canary Media’s Julian Spector in partnership with Savannah Harriman-Pote of Hawaiʻi Public Radio.

As it stands, Hawaiʻi relies heavily on imported oil to generate electricity, and its residents pay the highest power prices in the nation as a result. But the state’s ambitious plans to build out tons of solar power and battery storage to replace its oil imports have been slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and a catastrophic fire on Maui.

Now, Gov. Josh Green (D) is pursuing a different solution: a natural gas terminal that would again depend on an imported fossil fuel. Julian and Savannah have all the details and explore what Hawaiʻi’s clean energy challenges can teach other states.

Another step forward for nuclear power

America’s nuclear renaissance just keeps getting more credible. Last week, Holtec International — a company usually known for shutting down nuclear plants — announced a big milestone in its quest to reopen Michigan’s Palisades reactor. All major renovations to the plant are done, and the company’s next and final steps are essentially what would be done to restart the plant after a routine outage, reports Alexander C. Kaufman.

The Palisades restart — and the nation’s atomic ambitions — are just one small piece of the world’s nuclear power redux. A BloombergNEF study out this week predicts global nuclear capacity will climb 44% over the next decade. That means as much as 535 gigawatts of nuclear capacity could be on the grid by 2036, up from 372 GW as of last year.

Clean energy news to know this week

Glass half full: A new MIT report predicts the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy legacy will continue despite President Donald Trump and Congress repealing many of its incentives, as tons of renewable power is still on track to get built through 2035. (report, Heatmap)

Demolishing clean jobs: More than 200 clean energy generation and manufacturing projects have been canceled or downsized since Trump took office last year, costing the U.S. hundreds of thousands of jobs, a new report finds. (Canary Media)

Union blowback: Union workers and leaders call out the Trump administration’s buyouts of offshore wind leases, saying the deals are destroying good-paying union jobs. (The Guardian)

Cuba in crisis: Cuba suffered an island-wide blackout early this week amid a U.S.-led blockade on oil imports to the country. (Associated Press)

Cooking up batteries: Brooklyn startup Electra Research is building induction stoves equipped with small backup batteries that can also be leveraged as a grid resource. (Canary Media)

RGGI, set, go: The 11 East Coast states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will share a massive $1.3 billion for climate programs raised so far this year in auctions of allowances for carbon pollution. (E&E News)