the U.S. were typically built overhead instead of buried underground, which makes them more vulnerable to high winds and other weather. Those weather extremes are raising


the costs of power network upgrades for utilities all over the country. That in turn is set to raise power bills for homeowners and businesses. The movement toward electrifi-


cation is in part driven by consum- ers, amid mounting concerns about climate change, as well as initiatives among cities and towns to enact man- dates aimed at phasing out natural gas for cooking and heating. A decade ago, coal, nuclear, and


gas-fired power plants — which can produce power around the clock or fire up when needed — supplied the bulk of the nation’s electricity. Since then, renewable energy sourc-


es, including wind and solar farms whose output depends on weather and time of day, have become some of the most substantial sources of power in the U.S., second only to natural gas. Grid operators around the coun-


try have recently raised concerns that the intermittence of some electricity sources is making it harder for them to balance supply and demand and could result in more shortages. When demand threatens to exceed


supply, as it has during severe hot and cold spells in Texas and Cali- fornia in recent years, grid opera- tors call on utilities to initiate roll- ing blackouts, or brief intentional outages over a region to spread the pain among everyone and prevent the wider grid from a total failure. Companies around the country are


rapidly adding large-scale batteries to store more intermittent power so it can be discharged during peak periods after the sun falls and wind dies. But because such storage tech-


nology is somewhat new, and was, until recently, relatively expensive, it remains a small fraction of the elec- tricity market, and grid operators agree much more will be needed to keep the system stable as more con- ventional power plants retire. The North American Electric Reli-


ability Corp., a nonprofit overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Com- mission that develops standards for utilities and power producers, warned in a report last month that the Mid- west and West also face risks of supply shortages in the coming years as more conventional power plants retire. Serious electricity supply con-


straints have historically been rare. Most recently, the Texas grid opera- tor called for sweeping outages during an unusually strong winter storm last February that caused power plants and natural gas facilities of all kinds to fail in subfreezing temperatures. Millions of people were in the dark for days, and more than 200 died. California, which experienced out-


ages during a West-wide heat wave in the summer of 2020, also called on res- idents to conserve power several times last summer amid a historic drought that constrained hydroelectric power generation across the region. The state is now racing to secure


large amounts of renewable energy and batteries in the coming years to account for the closure of several conventional power plants, as well


New York Faces Blackouts


N


ew York, “the city that never sleeps,” may soon have to turn off


its lights. The Independent System Operator,


which oversees the state’s power grid, warned of supply shortages in the coming years as several gas-fired power plants close or operate less frequently in light of stricter state air quality rules. New York, which has set a goal to


eliminate emissions from its electricity supplies by 2040 and no longer has any coal-fired power plants, also recently shut down a nuclear plant some 30 miles north of Manhattan after critics called it a safety hazard. NYISO said its reserve margins —


how much electricity it has available beyond expected demand — are shrinking, increasing the risk of outages. A 98-degree, sustained heat wave


could result in shortfalls within New York City as soon as next year, a circumstance that would likely force NYISO to call for rolling blackouts for the first time ever.


as potential constraints on power imported from other states when tem- peratures rise. One of the biggest challenges facing


grid operators and utility companies is the need for better technology that can store large amounts of electricity and discharge it over days, to account for longer weather events that affect wind and solar output. Most large-scale bat- teries currently use lithium-ion tech- nology and can discharge for about four hours at most.


MAY 2022 | NEWSMAX 21


REPAIR/DAN REYNOLDS PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES / WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY/ADAMKAZ/GETTY IMAGES / BLACKOUT/AP IMAGES


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