NERC: Texas, California, New England Could Face Reliability Issues This Summer
POWERnews
Planning reserve margins in California and Texas will be “tight” this summer, and New England generators could face uncertain supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC’s) newly released 2012 Summer Reliability Assessment finds.
The 195-page assessment forecasts that between June 1 and Sept. 30, a majority of NERC’s assessment areas will have sufficient resources to meet summer peak demands. However, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator that serves about 85% of Texas, shows planning reserve margins of 13.5%, below NERC’s reference margin level of 13.75%. And in California, planning reserve…