COVID-19 has reduced electricity demand, but that should rise again with hot weather
RENSSELAER — With the COVID-19 pandemic easing, the approximately three dozen people who had been in isolation at the state’s power grid control rooms are once again going home to their families at night.
But the trailers that the New York Independent System Operator got for the control room workers remain in place, ready for a potential next wave of the pandemic.
“The trailers that we had to install on site, we’re maintaining that infrastructure,” NYISO President and CEO Rich Dewey said Wednesday.
NYISO operates the state’s intricately connected power grid, running an ongoing auction of electricity and making sure it gets where it’s needed, from power plants to users. The organization’s control rooms (there is a primary and a backup) are therefore essential for the power grid to operate smoothly.
When the pandemic first erupted, some of the control room personnel volunteered to self-isolate – working their 12-hour shifts and then going to stay in RVs the NYISO brought in. That way, they could avoid worrying about catching or spreading the virus among themselves of others.
The isolation wound down in mid-May but Dewey said they are prepared to start it up again if needed.
"They are here in place if we need them again and we will probably keep them,” Dewey said.
The pandemic has had an impact on the need for electricity as New Yorkers’ stayed away from office buildings, shopping centers and factories which were shuttered.
NYISO, which keeps meticulous track of when and where electricity is used in the state, logged about an 8% reduction in demand below forecasts. That was even higher in New York City, which consumes much of the power generated across the state and had been in total shutdown mode longer than upstate.
Now as the summer heats up, NYISO will be watching the weather as much as pandemic updates since it’s hot weather that causes peaks in electricity usage as more people run their air conditioners.
Dewey’s remarks came during a phone and web presentation of the organization’s annual report on forces shaping the state’s electric grid.
The report is titled “Power Trends 2020: The Vision for a Greener Grid.”
A good deal of Wednesday’s presentation focused on how the grid will help the state meet the goals set out in the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act which calls for sharp drops in greenhouse gas emissions going forward. Among those goals is to have 70% renewable electricity by 2030, compared to 2019 levels.
One of the big challenges will be getting carbon-free electricity including hydro and nuclear power from places where it’s produced in western and northern New York to the New York City metro region which consumes most of the state’s production.
Statewide, 68% of the state’s power capacity comes from fossil fuels, mostly gas-fired plants. But in the upstate region it’s reversed and 67% comes from clean sources due to the large hydroelectric plants in the Niagara Falls and St. Lawrence areas and the nuclear plants near Lake Ontario.
Getting that clean power downstate is a challenge given the cost and often ferocious local opposition to new power lines.
Building the large planned wind turbine plants off the coast of Long Island should help ease some of that imbalance. There is also the proposed Champlain-Hudson Power Express that developers want to run under Lake Champlain and the Hudson River to New York City. That is envisioned as carrying hydro power from northern Quebec to the city.
NYISO is looking at other factors going forward, including the push to electrify more cars as well as home heating and cooling, since that is considered less carbon-intensive than traditional fossil fuels.
“Understanding the implications of electrification will be very important to us going forward,” said NYISO Executive Vice President Emilie Nelson.
rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU
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