NERC 2024 Reliability Report Highlights Challenges for U.S. Electric Grid; Renewables and Storage are Key to Resilience

Press Release

Dec 20 2024

WASHINGTON DC, December 20, 2024 — The newly released North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC)  2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment Report highlights growing concerns about the strength and resilience of the U.S. electricity grid.

According to the report, rising demand for electricity, increases in extreme weather events, and delays in connecting new resources to the grid threaten stability across the U.S.

“In response to surging demand and increasing extreme weather events, we must embrace a diverse energy mix and avoid sidelining any market-ready generation,” said American Clean Power (ACP) Association Vice President of Markets & Transmission Carrie Zalewski.

“We need to tap into the 1,000 GW of storage-hybrid facilities in the queue that can deliver low cost, flexible resources. Adding new transmission infrastructure and a diverse energy mix need to be top priorities.”

On enhancing resiliency, the report found that battery storage is outperforming expectations, providing flexibility to balance solar and wind variability, particularly during extreme weather and peak demand periods.

“Energy storage is having an outsized effect on enhancing grid reliability. ERCOT is helping make that case,” Zalewski said. “In the past year, during both winter and summer months, significant energy storage capacity additions provided ERCOT with the ability to navigate moments of stress on the grid while helping keep the lights on and produce hundreds of millions in energy cost savings in the process.”

Report Highlights:

  • 51 percent jump in planned transmission projects over the next decade, with more than 28,000 miles of new transmission reported in planning stages, a much-needed step in expanding the grid to support renewable energy integration.
  • 15 percent increase in summer peak demand and an 18 percent increase in winter peak demand over the next 10 years.
  • Both figures are considerably higher than NERC’s last assessment and driven largely by surging energy needs from data centers.

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