Annual meeting highlights industry challenges

This month I feel compelled to write about some issues that were discussed at our 85 th Annual Meeting of Members held on April 1 . Of course, we discussed our financials and the pressure we have on rates with inflation and supply chain issues affecting all of us. Our rates have increased at a 5 % level from November 2022 until February 2023 . We know that 2024 will add more pressure on rates with fuel and transmission costs increasing.

Your board president, Matt Carpenter, shared information about the storms that caused several longer outages in 2022 : a winter storm in February, a summer storm in June that caused outages up to six days for some members, and the December 23 winter storm that brought frigid temperatures and tough conditions for our line crews. Extreme weather situations like this cold weather event and others that will surely follow cause me great concern for you, our members. Even though GMEC had ample power to serve you, Buckeye Power, our generation facility, was called on December 24 and asked to reduce power voluntarily to prevent mandated rolling blackouts. Fortunately, Ohio did not have rolling blackouts, but nine other states did. Those orders to shut off a substation or delivery point can come from PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity and is responsible for grid stabilization and reliability in our area.

What is causing the alarm with possible blackouts across America? The problem stems from decline in baseload dispatchable power supply. We have seen a large number of coal-fired power plants shutting down because of regulations coming out of Washington that make it unaffordable to keep these reliable energy generators running. In Ohio alone, we had 21 coal plants with 22 ,000 megawatts of capacity in 2009 . Today there are only four coal plants, with 7 ,500 MW of capacity. The alarming part is that, in most cases, these plants are not being replaced with facilities that can generate electricity 24 / 7 . Ohio has added some gas-fired generators, which makes sense with all the abundant natural gas we have here, but they are not as reliable in extreme weather conditions. Replacing coal with solar or wind power without a storage component is proving to be inadequate to meet the electricity needs of America.

I do not want you to think that GMEC is against renewable energy. These sources do have a place in our energy mix, but not as a baseload dispatchable power supply without a storage component. The message we need to send to policymakers in Washington is for them to recognize the need for time, technology development, and new transmission infrastructure before taking our nation down an energy path that prioritizes speed over practicality. And lawmakers must support policies that are inclusive of all energy sources to maintain reliability and affordability.

With the threat of rolling blackouts, I would recommend that we all consider having a backup plan for when these happen. If rolling blackouts occur, they will be completely out of GMEC’s control to restore power. We will be ordered by PJM to shed load when there is not enough power to go around, most likely during extreme weather events.

GMEC wants you, our members, to have a safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible supply of electricity. If you want to help, get this message to our leaders in Washington. To learn more about America’s Electric Cooperatives Political Action Committee (PAC), which advocates for responsible energy policy for the good of our members, please give me a call.

GUERNSEY-MUSKINGUM