May 31, 2004—The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) released its 2004 Summer Assessment recently, which provides an independent assessment of projected electricity supply and demand in North America for the upcoming summer season.
“NERC expects generating resources to be adequate to meet projected demand for electricity in North America this summer,” said Michehl R. Gent, NERC President and CEO. “NERC and the industry have taken a number of key steps to improve reliability in the wake of last summers blackout. If all entities comply with NERC reliability standards, then there should be no uncontrolled blackouts,” he emphasized.
The assessment states that transmission systems in North America are expected to perform reliably, although transmission congestion is expected to occur in some areas again this summer. Fuel supplies, inventories, and deliveries are also expected to be adequate. Even in areas where resources are expected to be adequate to serve all customer demand, unanticipated equipment problems and extremely hot weather can combine to produce situations in which demands temporarily exceed available generation and transmission capacity. ,P> In some local areas noted in the report, system operators may need to implement controlled demand reductions to maintain the constant balance between supply and demand needed to ensure overall bulk electric system reliability.
The 2004 peak demand for electricity is projected to increase 2.5% compared to the actual 2003 noncoincident summer peak. Projected demand growth varies widely among the regions; some expect significant increases in their peak demand for the summer while others project declines.
To download the report, visit NERC. The NERC Web site also includes information about reliability standards, publications, technical committees, and related programs and activities.
