Washington State ‘Increasingly at Risk’ for Rolling Blackouts
By
Guest Contributor
August 16, 2024
Guest Post by TJ Martinell
Editors’ note: This guest post from The Center Square discusses the problems contributing to the Pacific Northwest’s power shortage issues, including increased electrification, aging infrastructure, and overreliance on renewables without suitable backup. Climate Realism has written on this threat previously, as the entire American grid is similarly threatened.
(The Center Square) – A proposed battery energy storage system near Goldendale under consideration by the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council would, if ultimately approved by Gov. Jay Inslee, be able to provide 200,000 homes with electricity for up to four hours.
It’s a facility that Washington residents might need if the state is unable to meet future energy demands, which the company behind the project warns is growing more likely.
Tenaska is an independent power company based out of the Midwest and behind the proposed $250 million BESS, which would store excess electricity generated by the grid for later use. In an Aug. 13 presentation to EFSEC, company officials cautioned that “the region is increasingly at risk for rolling blackouts and brownouts,” which it blames in part to “aging transmission infrastructure that cannot meet current or projected demand.”
However, the presentation also noted that “data centers in the PNW, which are notorious for high energy use, are expected to more than double their electricity use in the coming years.”
https://climaterealism.com/2024/08/washington-state-increasingly-at-risk-for-rolling-blackouts/
