DOE, Environmentalists Flag Reliability Concerns From Gas Power Plants

The Energy Department (DOE) is warning that increased reliance on gas-fired power plants can threaten grid reliability, with officials instead endorsing a “portfolio approach” of low-carbon options to address increased electricity demand, including energy storage, grid-enhancing technologies, nuclear and geothermal. Building out additional natural gas “has the potential to result in higher costs and unexpected lower reliability during extreme weather events than alternative options,” the DOE writes in an April 17 report, “The Future of Resource Adequacy .” The report...