With the warning signs becoming far harder to ignore, North America’s power grid faces a massive storm ahead. Widespread blackouts could become the new norm across the United States and well as Canada. The blackouts would be the result of the increasing electricity demand which is far exceeding the supply of energy. Current North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) research mentions that basically half of the region will experience power shortfalls. However, one particular region is said to experience darkness first.
Reason for the blackout threat
There are a few issues that have collectively resulted in this blackout threat, which has become worse due to the delay in adding new reliable energy sources:
Excessive demands
The electricity demand is greater than ever before and is mainly driven by:
- Widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) as well as heat pumps.
- Sectors originally powered by fossil fuels are becoming electrified.
- The growth of data centers powered by AI technologies poses a high electricity demand.
The demand growth for electricity is apparent and according to the NERC’s director, the growth is not like anything ever seen before.
With the ever-increasing demand for electricity in a time when going green has been prioritized, coal and gas-fired power plants are retiring. About eight gigawatts of this energy capacity will disappear within the next decade. While going green is great for the environment, wind, solar, and batteries are not being developed quickly enough to replace these power plants.
Unpredictable outcomes with clean energy
The move towards alternate energy comes with a downside: having to depend on solar output and weather causing the performance to fall short of expectations. It seems difficult to rely on these methods of clean energy generation. California already faced problems due to trying to generate too much solar power.
In terms of solar projects, these projects are not being completed fast enough to meet generation and transmission capacity.
Where will darkness occur first?
As it stands, it is believed that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region will go dark first. According to NERC, MISO which includes the Midwest as well as central parts of the U.S. will experience darkness during the initial stages of these blackouts.
According to what has been analyzed, MISO seems to be losing coal-fired generation quicker, and the new sources of power are unable to keep up with the pace of growing demands or the challenge of the weather. Winter poses another threat to the escalating energy demand which battles with reliability from renewables.
Other areas at risk of blackouts
Blackouts may also be faced in other regions due to several factors, including the increasing demand for natural gas supply, struggles with balancing the growing population and a renewable-heavy grid, and drought conditions threatening hydropower outages. Regions that may face a blackout include:
- Texas
- British Columbia & Manitoba (Canada)
- New England
According to the NERC’S report, gas-fired generators will still play a critical role to ensure reliability during the next decade.
Actions to be taken to avoid a blackout
Thankfully, Americans are not experiencing a blackout now. A few measures need to be put in place to ensure that blackouts do not occur, including:
- Quicker delivery of renewables: Streamlining permitting processes and speeding up grid interconnections.
- Grid modernization: A massive investment in transmission infrastructure to transport renewable energy from where it’s generated.
- Backup systems: Energy storage systems need to be expanded to cover periods where wind and solar fall short.
If action is not taken, the NERC reports show that Americans and Canadians are at risk of being without power. Lights could go with the MISO area being the area most at risk. Could America’s most natural house be somewhat of a solution to the energy problem?
