"Reliability Is Not A Given" Featuring Meredith Angwin, Energy Analyst & Author
Today we had the pleasure of hosting Meredith Angwin, Energy Analyst and Author of " Campaigning for Clean Air: Strategies for Pro-Nuclear Advocacy" and most recently " Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid." Meredith is a passionate advocate for abundant, affordable, clean energy and has also been an early advocate for nuclear energy. In her extensive career, she has headed research projects on pollution control for fossil fuels, corrosion control for nuclear plants, and was one of the first female project managers at the Electric Power Research Institute. More recently, she has shifted focus to grid governance, reliability and oversight. In her latest book and with us live today, Meredith explains the grid and associated challenges in a straightforward and understandable way. We focused today on " Shorting the Grid" and the story Meredith tells us all by closely examining power in New England. Our key topics included an overview of the structural history of the power industry, the advent of the Regional Transmission Organizations ("RTOs"), background on New England's historical reliability measures (running oil during weather driven demand increases), new pay for performance initiatives, and additional structural changes and challenges in the market (like MPOR, the minimum offer price rule). We also touch on hydro power, the implications of the current natural gas price spike, the warning signs of more potential power shortages, overdependence on renewables with limited backup fuel, the lack of transparency and accountability, the hazards of relying on natural gas but not building enough pipelines, and, of course, what Meredith thinks the power market could look like in ten years. It was an extremely educational and interesting session and we are thankful to Meredith for joining us. We wholeheartedly recommend her book. It takes some really complicated issues and makes them easy to follow. Mike Bradley started the show with an update on weekly equity and commodity performance and key events, noting that European natural gas is at the lowest price since the Ukranian war started and also focused on recent executive action around US solar tariffs and the mixed messages the government is sending to Industry. Colin Fenton provided an update on US LNG export data and crude oil, showing markets are reacting to the EU's ban on Russian deliveries and also noting inflationary effects on US households with new credit cards skyrocketing. Brett Rampal, Veriten's nuclear expert, also joined and peppered in his thoughts and observations in the session.