Your electric cooperative recognizes how essential a resilient grid is — not just for today’s needs, but for future generations, too.
Summer in Ohio brings hot weather — along with longer days that give us more time to enjoy it. But as we take in the season, it’s worth reflecting for a moment about something we rarely think about yet couldn’t live without: our electric power grid.
America’s power grid is an engineering marvel. It supports nearly every sector of our economy and underpins our national security. It delivers electricity across thousands of miles with remarkable speed and precision, powering everything from air conditioners to smartphones, from traffic lights to hospital ventilators. It keeps homes comfortable, grocery stores running, and factories moving. But it’s easy to take for granted.
For the vast majority of Americans, electricity is available at the flip of a switch, any time of the day or night. Behind that convenience lies a highly complex, carefully balanced system. The grid must constantly match supply with demand — in real time, through all seasons, and in any weather conditions. It’s not just about wires and poles; it also takes coordination, forecasting, cybersecurity, and loads of human expertise.
That’s why even modest threats to the grid’s stability deserve serious attention. Today, your electric cooperative and the entire electric utility industry face significant challenges to their ability to provide that always-on power.
Even as electricity demand continues to rise, especially from energy-intensive sectors like data centers, many of the most reliable sources of generation — coal- and natural gas-fired power plants — are scheduled to retire because of unrealistic environmental regulations and pressure from advocacy groups.
PJM Interconnection, which oversees the electric grid in Ohio and much of the surrounding region, has cautioned that if generation retires too quickly and new resources don’t come online in time, the grid could struggle to keep up, particularly during periods of severe hot and cold weather, when power is needed most.
We all must be thoughtful about how we navigate this situation. Your electric cooperative recognizes how essential a resilient grid is — not just for today’s needs, but for future generations, too. It’s with all that in mind that we’re constantly working with policymakers to support practical solutions that recognize our environmental responsibility but also ensure our ability to protect grid reliability and maintain the affordable electricity that powers our entire way of life.
Craig Grooms is president and CEO of Buckeye Power, the co-op-owned utility that provides the electricity Ohio’s electric cooperatives deliver to their members, and Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc., their statewide trade association.
