Philly-area heat wave could push electricity demand to record levels

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Air conditioners are running on full blast as a dangerous heat wave bakes the Philadelphia region. All that electricity use could push demand on the regional grid to record levels Thursday afternoon.

But the regional grid operator, PJM Interconnection, predicts it’ll have enough electricity to meet demand over the next few days, if electric power plants and the lines that carry electricity over long distances perform as expected.

“The system’s tight,” said Jeff Shields, a spokesperson for PJM. “But we think we should be fine.”

High temperatures can affect the grid in multiple ways. They can increase outages of gas and coal-fired power plants if equipment overheats, and more electricity running through transmission lines can cause lines to heat up, sag and break, said Suzanne Glatz, an energy consultant and former infrastructure planner at PJM.

But PJM is taking steps to increase the grid’s capacity and decrease demand.

The grid operator has asked power plants and transmission line owners to defer routine maintenance so that they are all available for use. PJM may also ask big electricity users that have agreed in advance to lower their usage during emergencies to do so.

Avoiding blackouts amid dangerously high heat

The U.S. Department of Energy has also given PJM permission to direct local utilities to require data centers and other big electricity users to switch over to their own backup electricity generation if needed to avoid blackouts for residential and other customers. Shields said PJM will only use this tool as a last resort.

“[PJM is] leveraging every one of the tools that they have available to them, which gives me confidence that we won’t have any issues this week,” Glatz said.

These measures do not require action from residential customers, PJM said. Glatz recommended residential customers still try to conserve energy by avoiding running multiple electric appliances during the hottest part of the day and closing their blinds.

Glatz said she does not expect the heat wave to cause blackouts in the PJM region, which serves 65 million people across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and part or all of Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.

While random disruptions such as a thunderstorm knocking down a power line could present additional challenges, the grid is designed with contingencies in place to absorb a certain number of generator and transmission outages, she said.

“We have all these factors built in already to protect against unexpected issues,” she said. “There’s enough margin.”

Late last year, an auction PJM uses to secure commitments from power plants so that electricity supply meets future demand failed to reach the grid operator’s goal for a buffer of excess supply, raising the risk of power outages starting next summer.