News

PJM Interconnection, which oversees the much of the Mid-Atlantic electric grid, has a new report analyzing various options for complying with EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) which would limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing power generation resources and proposes a federal plan to be implemented if the states don't act. PJM’s report is extensive, with lots to digest, but some quick takeaways.

First, it's noteworthy that combined-cycle natural gas is the primary new energy source in each of PJM's compliance scenarios:

Why? PJM explains:

… each scenario results in significant levels of new combined cycle resources. Combined cycles are needed to maintain resource adequacy. Their capacity value compared to new renewable resources means that it is lower cost to continue to develop combined cycles both to satisfy load growth and to compensate for reductions in the level of operating steam turbine-driven resources, and help in achieving mass-based emissions targets.â€

In other words: abundant, affordable and reliable. Natural gas appears in each of PJM's compliance scenarios for good, market-based reasons with ample availability and dependability driving its economic benefits. In the marketplace, this is a winning hand for America.

And cleaner. Two charts below show that as the percentage of combined-cycle natural gas increases, emissions go down:

We already know that increased use of domestic natural gas is the chief reason U.S. energy-associated emissions of carbon dioxide are in retreat, allowing the U.S. to lead the world in CO2 reductions. This is occurring simultaneous with a U.S. energy renaissance that ...