Webster’s defines revolution as “a sudden, radical or complete change.” The ongoing revolution in the United States electric utility industry fits that definition to a T, writes Washington-based energy reporter Dennis Wamsted. The changes have been unbelievably quick (at least by company standards, if not by activists’ desires), and the long-term impacts are going to be both radical and complete. Importantly, in today’s political climate, the transition is unstoppable—like the inexorable forward advance of a glacier.
What got me thinking about this were two short news releases from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) earlier this week regarding shipments of LEDs during the third quarter of 2016 (the latest data it has available). In one, NEMA said that shipments of A-type LEDs (the most commonly used bulb for residential applications) topped 30 percent of the total for the first time, continuing a surge that has seen its market share climb from essentially zero just two years ago.
In the second, NEMA pointed out that it had added so-called T-LEDs to its statistics tracking shipments of the linear fluorescent tubes (marketed largely as T5, T8 and T12, which denote their diameter in eighths of an inch) that dominate the commercial and big box retail markets. In the third quarter, NEMA said, T-LEDs accounted for 12.8 percent of all shipments in this category—almost double the 1st quarter results, the first time NEMA even included the segment in its quarterly report. As with the A-line LEDs, sales of T-LEDs were essentially nonexistent in 2014.
“Five years ago, we were scared of 2-percent wind”
The success of the T-LEDs is particularly notable given the relative efficiency and low cost of the existing fluorescent competition, and it has huge ramifications for the lighting industry and electricity demand going forward. In its most recent overview of the LED market, Energy Savings Forecast of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications (which I wrote about here; the full report can be found here), the Department of Energy (DOE) noted that even though linear lighting totaled just 16 percent of the total number of installed lights in 2015 it accounted for 34 percent of all energy consumed in the sector that year due to the broad use of brighter bulbs and longer daily operation. Clearly, the LED takeover that has just begun will cut electricity consumption significantly—perhaps trimming source energy demand for commercial lighting by as much as 1,670 trillion British thermal units annually by 2025—while also providing better quality and longer-lasting lighting.
And lighting is far from the only example of this advancing efficient, renewable glacier.
Wind power
Six years ago, I did a lengthy piece for the Edison Electric Institute’s Electric Perspectives magazine on the status of wind power, and a couple of the quotes from that article are noteworthy today given the changes since. (For some history, you can find the article here.)
Public Service Company of Colorado, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy, has long been one of the leaders in the wind power transition, and in 2010 it was promoting the fact that for the previous 12 months it had met more than 10 percent of its electricity needs using wind; in addition, it was meeting upward of 30 percent of its demand during the overnight periods using wind.
“If you had asked me in 2007 if this was possible,” Tom Imbler, vice president of commercial operations for Xcel Energy, told me then, “I would have said, no, you can’t do that.”
Today, Xcel, which operates in eight states overall and serves some 3.5 million customers, gets almost 17 percent of its electricity from wind, and has a goal of 24 percent by 2020.
“Effective power system operation can be achieved with wind penetrations above 35 percent”
Similarly, Jesse Langston, vice president of utility commercial resources at Oklahoma Gas & Electric, the utility unit of Oklahoma City-based OGE Energy, told me: “Five years ago, we were scared of 2-percent wind.” Now, he continued, the company had a proposal pending before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to boost the amount of wind on the company’s system to roughly 10 percent.
Today, Oklahoma has 5,453 megawatts of installed wind power generation, accounting for more than 23 percent of the electricity generated in-state for the 12 months ended July 2016 (statistics are drawn from state fact sheets of the American Wind Energy Association, AWEA, they can be found here). And more is on the way; an additional 1,194 MW is under construction and another 299 MW are in the advanced development stage. Clearly, 2-percent is no longer a problem.
And Oklahoma is far from the only state turning to wind power in a big way. According to data from AWEA, wind now accounts for more than 10 percent of the electricity generated annually in 12 states, topped by Iowa, where the 6,356 MW of installed capacity generate more than a third of the state’s electric output. An additional two states are likely to join the 10 percent club when current construction projects are completed. Interestingly, California is not on the list of 10 percent states because of its size, even though it has 5,662 MW of installed wind capacity (putting it third in the U.S.).
Looking ahead, a recent report from DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory concluded that “effective power system operation can be achieved with wind penetrations above 35 percent.” Additional transmission capacity would be needed to reach those totals, the report added, but “our analysis identifies no reliability issues in any of the high-wind scenarios.” The report, Reducing Wind Curtailment through Transmission Expansion in a Wind Vision Future, can be found here.
Offshore wind potential
On top of this, there is the nation’s offshore wind potential, which is where NEMA’s T-LEDs were two years ago—still not even on the charts. But that is likely to change, and soon.
The nation’s first offshore wind farm just entered commercial service in December. But there are clear signs that momentum is beginning to speed up: Deepwater Wind, the developer of the 30 MW facility off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, already has begun work on a second, larger project. The company announced the signing this week of a power purchase agreement with the Long Island Power Authority for a 90 MW project to be built 30 miles southeast of Montauk, at the eastern end of the island.
Some 73 percent of Americans under 50 say alternative energy sources should be the nation’s priority, and younger Americans are now the driving force in U.S. demographics
And other companies are getting involved as well, notably DONG Energy, the Danish offshore wind giant (it has built more than 25 percent of the world’s offshore wind turbines), whose U.S. unit has teamed up with Boston-based Eversource Energy on an offshore project that ultimately could add 2,000 MW of capacity to the New England power grid.
While admittedly off to a slow start, there is plenty of potential offshore. A DOE study (the full details are here) released last fall estimated the U.S. offshore wind technical resource potential at more than 2,000 GW of capacity, or 7,200 terrawatt-hours of generation per year. As DOE noted, that is almost double the nation’s current annual electricity consumption.
Solar progress
Solar is another example of the unrelenting progress of the ongoing transition. From nothing in 2008 (see chart below), the industry has taken off, with 35.8 gigawatts up and operating today—that is a fast-moving glacier. And forecasts from the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research see little slowdown in the coming five years, with almost 70 GW of new capacity expected to come online by 2021 (see charts below).
A key factor behind the surge in solar (and, to a lesser extent, wind) has been the sharp decline in costs in the past six years. A much-touted goal set by DOE through its SunShot initiative in 2011 was to lower the cost of utility-scale fixed-tilt PV systems to $1.00 per watt by 2020; according to research released by Greentech Media that price is expected to average $0.99 per watt during the first half of 2017. Looking further out, Greentech’s analysts expect additional price reductions. Translation: solar clearly will play a continuing role in the ongoing transition.
Finally, there is the issue of public opinion. Here, as above, while clean energy may have been dismissed in the past as a fringe issue, long-term trends strongly favor the current green glacier. Polling data released this month by Pew Research found that 65 percent of Americans favor alternative sources such as wind and solar over fossil fuels. Not surprisingly, Democrats are much more favorably disposed toward green energy, with 81 percent saying the nation should be focused on alternative sources instead of fossil fuels, compared to just 45 percent of Republicans.
But the kicker is the age breakdown. Some 73 percent of Americans under 50 say alternative energy sources should be the nation’s priority (see chart below), and younger Americans are now the driving force in U.S. demographics. Baby Boomers, the generation born from 1946-1964, long ruled the trends and drove the decision-making, but Millenials, those born roughly from 1980-2000 (demographers are still debating the exact beginning and end points), now outnumber the Boomers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau there were 83 million Millenials in 2014, compared to just 75 million Boomers.
So the revolution moves forward, inexorably.
Editor’s Note
This article was first published on Dennis Wamsted’s blog Wamsted on Energy and is republished here with permission.
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Are Hansen says
Good to hear. Purely commercial interest drive the transition now, even without support (and with downright opposition) by the new rulers of the US.
When we look back in a few years, the Drumpff administration will be seen as the last, desperate gasp of the old order and its vested interests, trying to oppose the march of history. “Resistance is useless!”
Mike Parr says
DoE estimates for electricty saved by the move to LEDs is around 1500 TWh/yr. This compares to total US elec consuption of 5000TWh/yr. Set against this decline is a rise in elec consumption due to EVs.
I have a question: why does the USA seem to insist on using BTUs when talking about electricity. Stupid & pointless.
Nigel West says
Nothing wrong with a ‘British Thermal Unit’. UK would have been fine continuing with the imperial system rather than going metric.
Helmut Frik says
Well if you want to obscure things and make them less comparable with anything, you use the imperial system. In metric systems things are to obvious for everybody, That’s why scientists everywhere never use imperial system. It’s for salesmen only.
Jeff Bullard says
I agree about LEDs — rapid deployment. Somewhat agree about wind — it has become more than a bit player in many states. Disagree about solar.
Solar has grown from nothing in 2008 to still nothing in 2017. Still less than 1% of electric power in the US and less than half of one percent total primary energy. Low enough that if you graph total energy consumption by source (natural gas, coal, petro, nuclear, hydro, wood, wind) then solar is not discernible from the x axis. Solar could double, triple in the next five years and its still insignificant. That’s how small a share solar has of our energy mix.
Hemut Frik says
And so what is the problem? it’s well on the way to double, triple, quadruple in installation each year, till you see a significant share of power supply is being eaten away every year. The use of polysilicon for solar power has again been rising this year compared to last year, so production nubers are rising again.