Pew Report Examines Changes to Evolving U.S. Power Grid

News provided by

Oct 27, 2015, 11:38 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Since the turn of this century, there has been a six-fold increase in the number of grid outages across the country, from 2 a month to nearly 18 power disruptions a month. That's more akin to 19^th century technology than 21^st century.

Without the electric grid, power to homes, businesses, and a host of essential services couldn't be delivered, and most people would be left in the dark. In a new report, the Pew Charitable Trusts' clean energy initiative examines the changing electric grid to understand why and how it is evolving. It also looks at industrial energy efficiency technologies, sometimes referred to as cogeneration, and how these systems contribute to a cleaner, more secure, and more resilient power system.

Some key findings from the report:

There have been 300 grid disturbances in the last three years alone, which costs businesses $150 billion annually.
To this end, 90 percent of new power capacity since 2000 has come from gas and renewable energy.
In the decade from 2003-2013, 65 percent of new power plants have become independent power producers.
By 2020, 40 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity are scheduled for retirement.

The report Distributed Generation: Cleaner, Cheaper, Stronger – Industrial Efficiency in the Changing Utility Landscape, released today, details how an array of technological, competitive, and market forces are changing how the United States generates power and the ways that Americans interact with the electric grid. It also explores the impact of national policy on the deployment of clean and efficient energy technologies.

As part of the research, Pew commissioned ICF International Inc. to analyze the impact of the POWER Act, an industrial energy efficiency bill introduced in the House and Senate, on future market deployment of combined heat to power (CHP) and waste heat to power (WHP), key distributed technologies used in industrial, institutional or manufacturing facilities.

In addition, the results of this study will be presented at a briefing on Capitol Hill. Co-sponsors of the House bill, Reps. Tom Reed (R-NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) will be speaking about how the POWER Act can help achieve national economic, environmental, and energy goals.

WHAT: Report release and Capitol Hill briefing on the POWER Act
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT
WHERE: Rayburn Office Building, Room 2103, Independence Ave SW (between 1st St SW & S. Capitol St SE)
WHO: The Honorable Jack Reed, (R-NY)
The Honorable Earl Blumenauer, (D-OR)
Jessica Lubetsky, officer, The Pew Charitable Trusts' clean energy initiative
Anne Hampson, senior manager, ICF International