Study warns U.S. power grid will become too reliant on gas
A study by the energy research firm IHS warns the U.S. power grid stands to become far too reliant on natural gas in the decades ahead, as economic factors and new environmental regulations stand to push out power sources like coal and nuclear.
The study comes as new EPA regulations on carbon dioxide stand to dramatically shift the power industry, pushing natural gas and alternative energy sources like solar and wind over coal.
“The critical importance of diversity to stability in power supplies and prices is the ‘missing factor’ in much discussion on electricity,” IHS Energy Vice President Lawrence Makovich, the study’s author, said in a statement. “A diversified portfolio of U.S. power supply is fundamental to a properly functioning electricity system.”
The Obama administration released the new carbon standards for power plants earlier this year, calling it a necessary step to address increasing scientific evidence that made-made pollution like carbon dioxide is causing global temperatures to increase.
States are scheduled to submit plans to decrease carbon pollution to the EPA by 2016. If not, the federal government has said it will impose carbon-reduction standards.
IHS predicts the amount of electricity generated by natural gas will double in the decades ahead, eventually constituting 62 percent of the nation’s power supply.
“Engineering and economic analyses consistently show that there is no single fuel or technology of choice for power generation,” Makovich said. “Reliably and efficiently supplying consumers with the amounts of electricity that they need when they need it requires a diverse fuel and technology mix.”