Here’s what you need to know about your energy this summer

Last year, summer heat raised concerns about the power grid — which was straining from high electricity demands and insufficient energy generation.

Now, amid warming temperatures, agencies and organizations are projecting how the grid may fare this summer. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) both released reliability assessments in May. So did the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) which manages Iowa’s energy on the power grid along with that of 14 other states and a Canadian province.

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The Gazette spoke with Mike Deising, MISO’s senior director of strategic communications, about how the power grid may fare this summer according to those projections. His answers are edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: What do this summer’s energy reliability projections look like for MISO?

A: The summer assessments from FERC, NERC and MISO generally all aligned. They indicated that, under normal operating conditions, the system will have enough generation to meet demand throughout the summer.

They also say during high-risk, low-probability events — whether it’s significant heat or extreme weather — there is the potential to enter into emergency operating conditions to make sure we've got enough generation available. What was interesting about NERC’s assessment was that two-thirds of the U.S. is in the same grouping. It doesn't mean it's going to happen. There's just potential for it.

Q: How do this summer’s assessments compare with last year’s, when MISO was at a “high risk” of energy emergencies?

A: Across MISO’s footprint, we are a little bit better off than we were back in 2022. Specifically in MISO’s north-central region — where Iowa sits — there is a significant shift between last summer and this summer with available generation.

We’ve had about 3,200 megawatts of new generation. We also saw less retirements than we were anticipating — we only had about 1,200 megawatts of retirements in the north-central region. Our utilities are also expecting demand to be slightly lower this summer. And lastly, we saw increased interest from our neighbors to import into our auction this year.

Basically, you add all of that up, and instead of being 1,200 megawatts short like we were last year, we're approximately 4,700 megawatts in the positive this year.

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Q: What does that new generation look like?

A: It's kind of split. Of that 3,200 megawatts, natural gas, wind and solar were the three big ones. The retirements were all coal.

Q: What is a planning resource auction, and how did this year’s auction change from last year’s for MISO?

A: The planning resource auction identifies if there's going to be enough energy generation available to meet demand throughout the year. This year, we made a switch to how we approached it. Historically, we looked at the hottest day in summer when demand would be the highest and asked if we could cover that day. And then that's how the auction ran for the entire year.

But the grid is changing — all of these new generation sources are changing. We're having these extreme weather events in winter and summer, sometimes spring and fall. So now, we're looking at all four seasons instead of just the single hottest day of the year. That gives us a little bit more granular look, and then we can plan better for it.

We had 3 gigawatts of solar clear the auction this summer. That's an increase of 40 percent from last year. We also had 5 gigawatts of wind clear the auction for the summer — an increase of 32 percent.

When you see 8 gigawatts of those renewables, that those are significant numbers. That speaks to the evolution of the generation fleet. Natural gas and coal are still the two largest forms of generation that cleared the auction. But we are seeing that gradual transition and shift.

Q: Why is the power grid typically strained in the summer?

A: Generally speaking, demand follows weather patterns. If it is really hot or if it's really cold, you're going to see electricity demand increase.

MISO is typically a summer-peaking jurisdiction, which means we see the highest demand in summer. That's when we see the system get tighter. Interestingly, with the recent winter storms, we're starting to see tighter conditions in the winter as well. That really speaks to the changing dynamics of the system.

As energy patterns change and we see more electrification, the system evolves and becomes more dynamic. That's one of the reasons why we went to our seasonal approach for our planning resource auction, so we can get better visibility and granularity into what's happening across all the seasons. It used to be, “Let's plan for that one hottest day of the year and we're good.” That approach just is not going to work anymore.

Q: Some say the growth of renewable energy and decline of non-renewable energy puts energy generation at odds with fulfilling energy demand. How do we rectify that?

A: Something about MISO is that we are fuel agnostic. We do not pick whether we want wind, solar, coal or nuclear energy. Our members — the utilities — decide what they're going to build. Then, it's our job to help them get that connected to the system and make sure we get electricity to where it's needed.

The really important thing is having a diversity of generation available. You don’t want to have all your eggs in one basket. Solar is great during those hot summer days when the sun is shining. But then, on the cold winter days, not so much. Maybe that's when we see wind, natural gas or coal ramp up. It's really about using all the tools in the toolbox to make sure that we can keep the lights on.

Q: How can consumers use their energy more efficiently?

A: I would definitely go to your local utility for specifics, but it could be simple things like turning off unnecessary lights or increasing your air conditioning temperature in the summer. Depending on if there are programs available in your area from your local utility, there's lots that can be done to reduce your power consumption.

Brittney J. Miller is the Energy & Environment Reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; brittney.miller@thegazette.com