U.S. grid officials raise alarm on power plant closures - Houston Chronicle

U.S. grid officials raise alarm on power plant closures
NRG's coal-fired W.A.Parish power plant in Richmond. Fears arise of lower reliability and an increase in blackouts as fossil-fuel and nuclear plants are shutting down at a rapid pace and are replaced by cleaner but less consistent forms of generation. Bob Levey/Houston Chronicle

WASHINGTON – U.S. grid operators are raising alarms the power grid is becoming less reliable and potentially more prone to blackouts as traditional fossil-fuel and nuclear plants are shutting down at a rapid pace and are replaced by cleaner but less consistent forms of generation.

Jim Robb, president of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., said during a press conference Wednesday that the rapid expansion of wind and solar farms in recent years was already testing the limits of existing natural gas generation, which grid operators rely on to supply electricity when changes in weather causes renewable power loads to drop.