Peace Garden News

Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak (R-ND) has published a blog for the Congressional Western Caucus highlighting concerns about the reliability of America's electric grid. Rising energy demands and significant weather changes prompted Fedorchak to advocate for urgent reforms. Her blog follows the introduction of H.Res. 290, a resolution acknowledging threats to the grid's reliability.

"Imagine losing power in my state of North Dakota, where earlier this year, temperatures dropped to –22 degrees for many days in a row. That wouldn’t just be a small inconvenience—it would be deadly," she wrote. This scenario is now plausible with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's warning about elevated blackout risks for two-thirds of the U.S., including the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region, which serves 42 million Americans.

"The reason why is simple: we’re shutting down reliable power generation sources faster than we’re replacing them," Fedorchak explained. The gap between nameplate generation, largely from wind and solar, and accredited capacity, causes rising power bills and declining reliability.

Fedorchak proposed several solutions: reduce red tape for energy producers, reassess federal energy incentives favoring weather-dependent sources, implement permitting reform, and accelerate the development of power generation to meet increasing AI demands.

"Grid reliability is not a partisan issue—it’s an American issue," she asserted. Stressing the importance of power for America's global leadership, Fedorchak concluded, "America can and must remain the most powerful, prosperous, and innovative nation on earth."