Largest US Grid Warns Extreme Heat May Trigger Supply Crunch (1)

PJM Interconnection LLC, the largest US electric grid serving about 20% of Americans from the Midwest to East Coast, warned that extreme heat this summer could trigger supply shortages for the first time.

While PJM expects to have enough power supply to meet typical summer demand, “available generation capacity may fall short of required reserves” under severe conditions that lift demand as high as 166 gigawatts, the grid operator said Friday. Such an extreme scenario would topple the 2006 record of 165.6 gigawatts. One megawatt is typically enough to power 800 homes in PJM.

PJM expects this summer ...