Economist Says Growing Demand for Electricity Threatens Stability of National Power Supply

Demands on the nation’s electricity generates concern from one economist with the Federal Reserve in St. Louis. Kevin Kliesen says his concern boils down to simple economics. He points to data from the Energy Information Administration, which expects the amount of energy consumers demand to fall just five percent short of the amount produced by 2014 – a figure that’s alarmingly low for Kliesen. He says unless electrical capacity is added, supply disruptions, such as blackouts, could occur more often. Right now, the safety margin between consumption and production is 20 percent.