The grid runs on reality, not wishful rhetoric
by Derrick Max
The July heat wave that pushed PJM toward record electricity demand should force Virginia policymakers to confront an uncomfortable truth: the electric grid does not run on mandates, slogans or wishful thinking. It runs on power that is available when people need it.
During this heat wave, PJM — the regional grid operator serving Virginia and all or parts of 12 other states and DC — came within striking distance of its all-time summer demand record and may well have exceeded it once emergency demand reductions are counted.
PJM’s measured July 2 peak reached 162.3 gigawatts, just below the old 2006 record of 165.6 gigawatts. But Steve Haner, writing in Bacon’s Rebellion, noted that about 6 gigawatts of demand had been shed through emergency demand-reduction programs. Add that curtailed load back, and underlying demand likely exceeded the old record, even if the official metered peak did not.
That distinction matters. PJM did not avoid a crisis because the needed power was comfortably supplied. It avoided it because emergency tools shaved demand at the moment of greatest stress. Grid failure is no longer a theoretical policy debate — the grid is operating near the edge.
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