As winter clamps down with a deep freeze over much of the country, data shows the nuclear power industry is helping the nation's electricity grids remain stable during this period of peak demand, the Nuclear Energy Institute said.
In the densely populated market of regional transmission organization PJM, 32 of 33 nuclear power facilities that serve the region are operating at full capacity and are providing about 35,000 megawatts of generating capacity to help meet a regional demand load of about 127,000 megawatts, the institute said.
In the New York ISO, the region’s six reactors, all of which are producing electricity at 100 percent capacity, are providing about 5,600 megawatts of capacity to meet demand load of about 22,600 megawatts, NEI said.
In the New England ISO, four reactors—all operating at 100 percent capacity—also are meeting about one-quarter of the region’s 18,600 megawatt load.
In the Midcontinent ISO spanning much of the Midwest, nuclear energy facilities are providing about 13,000 megawatts of power, or 14 percent of the region’s demand load of 97,500 megawatts.
“During periods of extreme weather, nuclear energy’s importance to the U.S. electric grid and to the nation becomes more apparent than ever. Our nuclear energy facilities reliably generate large amounts of electricity, and they do so without the price volatility that can hammer customers financially,” said the Nuclear Energy Institute’s vice president for policy development, planning, and supplier programs, Richard Myers.