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GAO-24-106145 1 (2024-05-21)

handle is hein.gao/gaoqgo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Why This Matters Peaker power plants are part of the U.S. energy infrastructure and help meet peak electricity demand. Peak demand generally occurs at times during the day when cooling and heating needs are generally the highest among households. Peakers are used to supplement other types of power plants, such as baseload plants, which run consistently throughout the day and night, and intermediate plants, which run mostly during the day and less at night (see fig. 1). Figure 1: Illustrative Example of Annual Average Hourly Capacity Factors, by Plant Type Plant capacity factor (%) 100 Baseload 80 ------------------------------- ------ 60 --- - ----- - - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - ------- - ------- - - -- -- ------ - ------- 40 20 0 Key Takeaways Intermediate 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 Hour Source: GAO Analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data. I GAO-24-106145 Note: A plant's capacity factor is the percent of energy it produced of the total energy it could have produced during a certain time frame if it operated continuously at full power. Peakers may be less efficient than other types of plants-such as intermediate and baseload plants-because they undergo frequent startups using comparatively large amounts of fuel. Further, environmental advocates and some congressional leaders have expressed concerns that peakers may also negatively affect the air quality in communities-which may be historically disadvantaged or disproportionately low income-around the plants. We were asked to examine pollution from peakers across the nation. We are providing information on the number and locations of peakers in the U.S.; the proximity of peakers to disproportionately low-income, and historically disadvantaged racial or ethnic populations; the extent to which they emit pollutants and how these pollutants affect the health of people exposed; alternatives for replacing them; and potential challenges of replacing them. Historically disadvantaged racial or ethnic communities tend to be closer to peakers. Page 1 GAO-24- 106145 Electricity Page 1 GAO-24-106145 EleGtricity

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