Cantwell Statement On New Report From The Natural Resources Defense Council
June 26, 2017
Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) responded to a report, Advancing Part “Baseload” to a Flexible Grid: How Grid Planners and Power Markets Are Better Defining System Needs to Achieve a Cost-Effective and Reliable Supply Mix.
“This report makes it clear that President Trump and Secretary Perry have it wrong: baseload energy technologies, such as coal, do not make our electric grid more reliable and efficient. Rather, the world is moving towards cleaner power sources that require a more flexible, smarter grid. The United States can either lead on these technologies or get left behind,” Senator Cantwell said.
The Brattle Group report, Advancing Past “Baseload” to a Flexible Grid: How Grid Planners and Power Markets Are Better Defining System Needs to Achieve a Cost-Effective and Reliable Supply Mix, released today and commissioned by NRDC concludes that reliability today is improved by flexible resources (such as natural gas, energy storage, and demand side management) that can quickly ramp up and ramp down as needed to complement variable generating resources, such as wind and solar. Baseload power plants do not enhance reliability in today’s environment because they are not flexible.
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