North America's power system will decline unless changes made soon: report

The adequacy of North America's electricity system will decline unless companies build more power plants and power lines as soon as possible, said a report released on Monday by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) .

The group, appointed by the U.S. federal government to be the nation's power-grid watchdog, said that demand for electricity is expected to increase over the next 10 years by 19 percent in the U. S., but confirmed power capacity will increase by only 6 percent.

Capacity margins are projected to drop below minimum target levels in Texas, New England, the Mid-Atlantic area, the Midwest, and the Rocky Mountain area, in the next two to three years, with other portions of the Northeastern U.S., Southwest, and Western U. S. falling below minimum target levels later in the period.

In Canada, projected margins are adequate except in Western Canada, where additional resources will be needed as soon as 2008.

The transmission system requires additional investment to address reliability issues and economic impacts, said Rick Sergel, president and CEO of the NERC.

However, expansion and strengthening of the transmission system continues to lag behind demand growth and expansion of generating resources in most areas. Total transmission miles are projected to increase by less than 7 percent in the U.S. and by only 3.5 percent in Canada through 2015, he warned.

"We've got a problem," Sergel said. "We can't continue this ' just-in-time' planning much longer. It works in manufacturing but it does not work in the power sector."

In addition to building more power plants, companies need to upgrade transmission systems, improve energy efficiency programs for businesses and consumers and prepare to replace an aging work force, the council said.

Source: Xinhua