Congress needs to step up for electric cooperatives

Marshal Albright, president/CEO Cass County Electric Cooperative

American families and businesses expect the lights to stay on at a cost they can afford. But that’s no longer a guarantee. Nine states saw rolling blackouts last December as the electricity demand exceeded the available supply.

This is no longer a theoretical conversation. And unless policymakers change course, it’s going to get worse.

America has a reliability problem. And with the help of co-op leaders nationwide, Cass County Electric Cooperative has been a leading voice in sounding the alarm on reliability. Today’s energy decisions will determine whether sufficient resources will keep the lights on tomorrow. First, lawmakers outside North Dakota need a reality check, must acknowledge the serious problem, and ought to identify the challenges and solutions. Seven issues are currently impacting the reliable delivery of electricity across the nation. They include:

1. Increasing demand for electricity as other sectors of the economy (the addition of electric vehicles) are electrified.
2. Decreasing electricity supply due to the disorderly retirement and insufficient replacement of existing baseload generation, namely coal and nuclear power generation sources.
3. Numerous federal regulations from the Biden administration directed at the coal industry threaten the future of reliable and resilient baseload power supply.
4. Lack of transmission capacity to move electricity from one region to another.
5. Permitting delays that prevent new electric infrastructure from being built and connected to the grid. It can take 10 years for a transmission line to get built.
6. Supply chain challenges, particularly electric transformer costs and delays.
7. Problems with natural gas availability during high-demand periods, especially in the cold months, because natural gas is simultaneously used for heating and power production.

These challenges will be “challenging” to address and come at a high cost, but we can start by asking ourselves this: Is this what America should be? Should the threat of rolling blackouts be a permanent facet of U.S. energy policy? The answer to both questions is an obvious and resounding NO for electric co-ops and the communities we serve.

The long-term solutions require policymakers and regulators to recognize the need for more time (decades) to transition away from carbon-based fuels, technology development of carbon-free sources like modular nuclear and carbon capture systems for fossil fuel plants, long-duration energy storage systems, and new transmission infrastructure. These are the primary ingredients for an energy future that prioritizes reliable electricity for the 42 million Americans served by electric cooperatives, including the 57,000 accounts served by Cass County Electric Cooperative.