A summer of blackouts? Wheezing power grid leaves states at risk.
Why the grid could buckle in large areas of the country as temperatures rise
During a hot spell this spring, energy officials in Texas urged consumers to turn their thermostats up to 78 degrees and avoid the use of large household appliances. It was one of a number of unusual warnings issued nationally amid fears of blackouts. (David J. Phillip/AP)
The nation’s power grid is under stress like never before, with regulators warning that the kind of rolling outages that are now familiar to California and Texas could be far more widespread as hot summer weather arrives.
A large swath of the Midwest that has enjoyed stable electricity for decades is now wrestling with forecasts that it lacks the power needed to get through a heat wave. The regional grid is short the amount of energy needed to power 3.7 million homes.
New Mexico’s attorney general is preparing for “worst case scenarios” after a regional utility warned of possible blackouts. North Dakota regulators advised the state to be ready for rolling outages, Arkansas officials are preparing emergency energy conservation measures, and power companies in Arizona are already sounding alarms about next year.
Longer, more frequent outages afflict the U.S. power grid as states fail to prepare for climate change
While America’s power grid has been showing signs of distress for years, the sudden warnings have surprised even those who were sounding an alarm. That’s because extreme weather precipitated by climate change and the early retirement of fossil fuel plants has accelerated the destabilization of the grid — a fragile collection of transfer stations and transmission lines already challenged by a lack of investment.
Why the grid could buckle in large areas of the country as temperatures rise
During a hot spell this spring, energy officials in Texas urged consumers to turn their thermostats up to 78 degrees and avoid the use of large household appliances. It was one of a number of unusual warnings issued nationally amid fears of blackouts. (David J. Phillip/AP)
The nation’s power grid is under stress like never before, with regulators warning that the kind of rolling outages that are now familiar to California and Texas could be far more widespread as hot summer weather arrives.
A large swath of the Midwest that has enjoyed stable electricity for decades is now wrestling with forecasts that it lacks the power needed to get through a heat wave. The regional grid is short the amount of energy needed to power 3.7 million homes.
New Mexico’s attorney general is preparing for “worst case scenarios” after a regional utility warned of possible blackouts. North Dakota regulators advised the state to be ready for rolling outages, Arkansas officials are preparing emergency energy conservation measures, and power companies in Arizona are already sounding alarms about next year.
Longer, more frequent outages afflict the U.S. power grid as states fail to prepare for climate change
While America’s power grid has been showing signs of distress for years, the sudden warnings have surprised even those who were sounding an alarm. That’s because extreme weather precipitated by climate change and the early retirement of fossil fuel plants has accelerated the destabilization of the grid — a fragile collection of transfer stations and transmission lines already challenged by a lack of investment.
