SPP: Keeping the Lights On (Editorial)

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The focus of this issue of Arkansas Business is infrastructure, and the electric grid in the United States is as important a piece of the infrastructure picture as there is. The job of a Little Rock nonprofit, Southwest Power Pool, is to manage the grid, as Assistant Editor Kyle Massey details on this week’s front page.

What does managing the grid mean? Keeping the lights on and the power flowing, at its most basic.

SPP is extending its reach into the western United States, and as Massey writes, “SPP’s expansion efforts come at a crucial time for the nation’s aging power grid. Electricity demand is at record levels and extreme weather regularly tests the system’s resiliency. Directing power from the cheapest generation sources and getting it to the utilities that need it is trickier than ever. And baseload power sources like coal generation plants are shutting down in favor of renewable resources, making the balancing act yet more difficult.”

As energy sources continue to diversify, encompassing solar and wind as well as the more traditional fossil fuels, the role of regional transmission organizations like SPP will become increasingly important. The issue is complex, but it’s important for business leaders and the community at large to understand.