The country’s total dependable generating capacity in 2012 according to the Department of Energy (DOE) stood at 15,066 megawatts (MW). Dependable capacity refers to the maximum capacity that the collective power plants in a grid can sustain over a specified period with allowances for planned and forced outages, seasonal limitations and other conditions. This compares with the country’s 17,025 MW installed capacity, which refers to the collective instantaneous output of all the power plants in the country.>>read complete document
