Blackouts On The Horizon

tens of millions of Americans could be thrown into a summer of hell as a megadrought, heat waves, and reduced power generation could trigger widespread rolling electricity blackouts from the Great Lakes to the West Coast. 1

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a regulatory body that manages grid stability, warned that power supplies in the Western US could be strained this summer as a historic drought reduces hydroelectric power generation due to falling reservoir levels and what’s expected to be an unseasonably hot summer. Compound the hellacious weather backdrop with grids decommissioning fossil fuel power plants to fight climate change and their inability to bring on new green power generation, such as solar, wind and batteries, in time, is a perfect storm waiting to happen that will produce electricity deficits that may force power companies into rolling blackouts for stability purposes.

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California grid operators have warned of rising blackout threats for the next three summers as the state transitions to greener forms of energy. The drought and shrinking reservoir levels have reduced hydroelectric power generation on top of decommissioned fossil fuel power plants. NERC’s report is and eye-opener for those living in the Western US. Many households face out of control inflation, soaring fuel prices, and food shortages ahead of what could be a summer of unrest.1

Summer electricity prices (and air conditioning costs) are expected to rise 12 percent this summer. This isn’t to say that power prices have been flat in recent years. The expected summer increases follow 11 percent price hikes each year during the last two summers. And this summer would mark a return to 2014 prices, which was followed by several years of falling natural gas prices. 2

Further exasperating the problem is the push by the Biden administration and many blue states to electrify home heating and cooking and the sales of electric vehicles that will increase power demand in the future. In California, regulators have indicated that as much as 3,800 megawatts of new renewable capacity may face delays through 2025, posing a major challenge since the state is procuring a huge amount of renewable energy and storage to offset the closure of several gas fired power plants and the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. However, after rolling blackouts, a change in public consciousness, a six year effort to save Diablo Canyon has finally succeeded. 3

In Texas, this summer’s looming threat has already begun to materialize. Earlier in May, the state’s grid operator was forced to call on customers to conserve power as the regions saw a combination of record breaking heat, record breaking demand, low wind generation and the abrupt failure of six thermal generators at once. 4