This week, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry formally proposed that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) take swift action to address threats to U.S. electrical grid resiliency.
According to the Secretary of Energy, the Commission needs to act swiftly to ensure the necessary steps to maintain a reliable and resilient electrical grid.
Pursuant to his authority under Section 403 of the Department of Energy Organization Act, the Secretary urged the Commission to issue a final rule requiring its organized markets to develop and implement reforms that would fully price generation resources necessary to maintain the reliability and resiliency of the nation’s grid.
“A reliable and resilient electrical grid is critical not only to our national and economic security, but also to the everyday lives of American families,” said Secretary Perry. “A diverse mix of power generation resources, including those with on-site reserves, is essential to the reliable delivery of electricity — particularly in times of supply stress such as recent natural disasters.”
If adopted by FERC, Secretary Perry’s common sense market reforms proposal will:
- Ensure the diversity and reliability of generation supply.
- Boost the resilience of our grid against outages.
- Maximize reserve resource capacity for times of unusually high demand, including severe weather events.
“My proposal will strengthen American energy security by ensuring adequate reserve resource supply and I look forward to the Commission acting swiftly on it,” added Secretary Perry.
The Secretary of Energy is primarily responsible for ensuring the electrical grid meets America’s needs now and into the future and FERC is charged with regulating the markets to achieve that mission. The recent Staff Report to the Secretary on Electricity Markets and Reliability showed that while today’s grid is reliable, market distortions are threatening its resilience and the future of American energy security.
The Commission needs to act swiftly to ensure that the resiliency attributes of electrical generation from facilities with on-site fuel supplies are fully valued.
The full text of the Secretary’s Letter to the Commission as well as the Proposed Rule are both available at DOE’s website.
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