Grid will be upgraded as fossil fuels replaced

The editorial “A warning in the snow,” April 22, does readers a service by going beyond bilateral “yes or no” thinking about climate change to more responsible, multilateral “yes but…” thinking.

While acknowledging the need to replace fossil fuels with electricity in homes, the editorial points out the weakness of the grid that must respond to this increased demand for electricity.

A look at the Climate Action Council’s draft scoping plan shows that the council is aware of this potential Achilles heel in its plans to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.

This 341-page document — in which the word “grid” can be found 100 times — directly calls for: “The strategies to implement and achieve the goals of the Climate Act must support the high reliability standards in place in the state by implementing improvements and enhancements where needed and sustaining the practices that provide high-quality electric service.”

It also supports the development of “islandable microgrids” and district systems using renewable sources of energy to provide locally generated power, especially in critical facilities during grid emergencies.

In addition, the final draft of the plan should set specific, year-by-year targets for permitting new wind, solar and battery storage.

This nudge from nature reminds us that delivering renewable energy at the scale we need it will be a challenging task, but one we can meet with careful planning.

Asad Naqvi

Jericho