Operators of the Region's Electrical Grid Say They're Ready for the Summer Heat

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

May 24, 2012 | 6:21 PM

Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images

Towers carrying electricity in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station.

PJM Interconnection says they’ve got enough electricity to help cool down the dog days of summer. PJM manages 62,000 miles of transmission lines over 13 states and the District of Columbia. In a press release, PJM announced they forecast a peak demand for 153,780 megawatts of power this summer. The record for the region’s demand is 163,760 megawatts set July 21, 2011 during a severe heat wave last summer marked by several days reaching into the triple digits.

“PJM, with the support of its members, expects to be as ready as we were last year for whatever the summer brings, even if it’s just typical summer heat,” said Michael Kormos, senior vice president – Operations. “Last summer, we not only met a new record peak for power but kept the high voltage grid stable despite a hurricane, tropical storm and earthquake,” Kormos said.