Quoted from Oaken:…forecast demand in MISO could reach an hourly peak of 118.2 gigawatts (GW) under normal conditions this summer and 125.2 GW in extreme conditions.
Quoted from Oaken:To meet that peak demand, MISO expects to have 143.2 GW of capacity available this summer. But planned maintenance and forced outages could reduce that capacity, EIA warned.
Reductions could leave MISO with just 114.9 GW of generating capacity, which is less than its summer demand forecasts.
MISO is Midcontinent Independent System Operator and they operate the power grid across 15 states (see picture). Long story short - the projected demand will outstrip capacity this summer. MISO will be importing energy at a very steep cost. As a large user at my campus, we are getting hit with $1mil extra charge on top of what we use. This is based on last year's usage during peak times (July-August). If you are in the service area, you rates are going up and yes, rolling brown-outs are likely. Lots of reasons for this but here is one - coal power plant shut downs in the service area have reduced the total GW capacity significantly without replacement production in place. For instance, the Coffeen Power Plant in my County shut down in 2019, removing 915 MW of production without any replacement. Still more plants scheduled to close between now and 2025 in Illinois.
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