skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Judge temporarily blocks effort to deport Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia student protests; Power of rural organizing reflected in SD carbon pipeline law; Safety at risk as budget cuts hit Indiana Dunes National Park; Barriers to tracking bird flu mount amid federal changes.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

House Democrats won't back the GOP budget bill. Ontario reacts to Trump trade moves by enacting energy export tariffs, and a new report finds mass deportations don t help the labor market.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Immigrant communities are getting advice from advocates as the reach of ICE expands, experts in rural America urge lawmakers to ramp up protections against elder abuse, and a multi-state arts projects seeks to close the urban-rural divide.

Report: MD grid can manage transition to electric heating

play audio
Play

Monday, January 29, 2024   

A recent study shows Maryland's electric grid is well positioned to manage the transition to electrification as outlined in the state's climate goals.

In the 2022 Climate Solutions Now Act, the state pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.

The act also directed the Public Service Commission to study energy production and distribution capacity to determine if the transition away from fossil fuels for space and water heating would strain the grid.

The report assessed the impact by looking at three different electrification scenarios, and estimated demand growth would be at most just over 2% per year between now and 2031.

Lead study author Sanem Sergici, Ph.D. - the principal at the The Brattle Group - said these peak demand scenarios appear modest next to growth rates seen in the past.

"We think that this will be quite manageable, especially if you compare it to the growth that Maryland's system has experienced in the past," said Sergici. "We looked back 40 years, and we have seen periods in which Maryland peak demand has grown at 4%, 5%."

She said utilities were able to increase capacity in the 1980s without large price hikes to ratepayers.

Electricity demand currently peaks in the summer, but the report anticipates the electrification of heating will cause a switch to winter peaking by the end of 2027.

The study focused on electrification in residential single and multifamily housing and large office buildings.

Assuming the widespread adoption of heat pumps in coming years, the study looked at three scenarios in which backups for the coldest hours of the year are maintained.

Scenario 1 assumes the continued use of heating oil or propane as backup, and would result in the smallest increase in load demand per year at just over 0.5%.

Scenario 2 posits the use of cold-climate heat pumps, which do not require backup - their impact on demand is just over 1% per year.

Continued use of baseboard heating is assumed in scenario 3 and would increase demand just over 2%. The report looked at the system as a whole and does not say when and where upgrades will be needed.

Sergici said the study conclusions do not mean no investment will be necessary.

"Even though this is manageable at the system level," said Sergici, "utilities should be doing their own detailed and very granular distribution planning studies to figure out where they will need to expand the capacity of the grid early on, so that they can get ahead of some of those challenging problems. "

The report also says that with more energy-efficiency and load-flexibility incentives, the state could see reductions in demand of as much as 1% per year, offsetting at least part of the load growth from electrification.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A solar project in Dayton was made possible through a solar-power purchase agreement with IGS Energy, approved by the Dayton City Commission last Wednesday after a four-year evaluation process, including a feasibility study to ensure sufficient power capacity. (Yeivaz/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Ohio is seeing a growing number of solar energy projects, including the first utility-scale installation in Dayton, which will help power a key water …


Environment

play sound

By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service …

Environment

play sound

Researchers at Colorado State University have found the state's nearly 23 million acres of forests are currently releasing more carbon dioxide into th…


Polluted, acidic water leaving KD #1 Surface Mine on Lens Creek near Marmet. (Kanawha Forest Coalition)

Environment

play sound

Watchdog groups said the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection seems poised to allow coal company Keystone West Virginia to walk away f…

Social Issues

play sound

A Missouri children's advocate is urging the justice system to focus on healing for youths, noting trauma and broken relationships often drive their …

Conservation experts would like to see more farms use drip or sprinkler systems, which are more efficient than flooding for irrigation. (Deyan Georgiev/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

By Gabriella Sotelo for Sentient.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collab…

play sound

New research finds Black working women still face rampant discrimination in the Golden State. The California Black Women's Collective Empowerment …

Health and Wellness

play sound

By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Kentucky News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021