U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright toured the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown on Wednesday.
Surrounded by personnel from the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia, the head of the U.S. Department of Energy visited the site and cautioned that the nation faces significant challenges regarding its capacity to generate, provide, and sustain energy resources.
Wright stated, "To revitalize American industry for the competition in AI and to counteract the significant increase in electricity costs, we require additional electrical resources."
Ross Guidotti from KDKA-TV spoke with Wright regarding this matter, discussing how power shortages have led to issues in the area. According to him, the initial step required is releasing additional electricity capacity from operational plants that can manage it.
"Just running low on reserve margins here. We need to cease shutting down coal facilities and find ways to simplify the process for constructing and increasing capacity with new installations while optimizing our grid usage," Wright stated.
Wright said in addition to more power, better and more robust transfer means are necessary, but that won't happen overnight. His plan uses what's available but just uses it more efficiently.
“Dynamic line rating and reconducting specific lines are part of our approach,” Wright stated. “Building new transmission facilities takes considerable time, which is why we’re also focusing on those efforts; however, that represents a solution spanning several decades.”
Wright indicates that coal will be part of the equation, along with a rise in the utilization of the area’s natural gas resources. He acknowledges that worries about pollution from greater consumption of fossil fuels are valid; however, he argues that this doesn’t make achieving both affordable energy and cleaner air impossible.
We’re currently at an advanced coal-fired power station in West Virginia, one with state-of-the-art facilities. When you observe the emissions from the smokestacks, they appear as a crisp white color. This emission consists solely of water vapor. In contrast, plants using outdated technologies and older machinery would release not just white but also brownish plumes containing various pollutants into the atmosphere. The solution lies in technological advancements,” stated Wright.
However, when it comes to green or renewable energy—a field where Pittsburgh-based researchers are at the cutting edge—he believes it’s a fantastic concept and predicts their moment is approaching. Still, he notes that currently “only around 3%, perhaps up to 3.5%, of our electricity is generated from sources like wind, solar, and batteries.”