In a Jan. 22 letter, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright asked the nation’s grid operators to maintain communication with DOE during Winter Storm Fern and be prepared to make backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities available as needed.
“DOE estimates more than 35 GW of unused backup generation remains available nationwide. These actions could mitigate blackouts and reduce costs for potentially hundreds of millions of Americans during the winter storm,” the agency said.
Wright has directed the Department to prepare to issue orders, pursuant to his statutory authority under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, “which will ensure that the tens of gigawatts of available backup generation, which would otherwise stand idle, is available during emergency conditions,” he said in the letter.
“When Reliability Coordinators and/or Balancing Authorities notify us, even merely by phone call, that there is an expected emergency warranting the issuance of a 202(c) order, I will review the facts and, if appropriate, authorize the Reliability Coordinators and Balancing Authorities to direct backup generation facilities to run as a last resort before declaring an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 3, thereby avoiding potential blackouts," he said.
There are certain facilities whose operations are of such criticality that it would be inappropriate to require their backup generation to run early in an emergency (like military installations and hospitals), he noted.
"I expect the Reliability Coordinators and Balancing Authorities to work closely with the facilities within their service territories to deliberately prioritize the dispatch order of backup generation to achieve the greatest benefit to the bulk power system while balancing mission-essential functions. To respond to the nation’s unprecedented electricity demand growth, the Department of Energy stands ready to work with the Reliability Coordinators and Balancing Authorities to ensure needed generation capacity is developed and to protect lives, avoid economic loss, and ensure affordability for all Americans. In order to ensure that the backup generation is available should it be required, I have directed my staff to coordinate with the Reliability Coordinators and Balancing Authorities ahead of this weekend’s winter storm."
