Lake Mead in Nevada is currently suffering from a historic drought, making it harder to generate hydroelectricity at a nearby dam
- 100m living in Midwest, West Coast and Southwest face summer power outages from hot weather, climate change, overstretched fossil fuel power plants and unreliable green alternatives, energy regulator warns
- Huge swathes of the US are at risk of power outages this summer
- The ‘MISO’ part of America’s power grid – whose full name is the Midcontinent Independent System Operator is at greatest risk of a large-scale outage
- That warning was given by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which released a map showing Michigan, most of Indiana, most of Illinois, and Wisconsin were in trouble.
- Also at the highest risk are Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and a small part of East Texas. That high-risk classification means that the existing power grid is ‘potentially insufficient to meet peak load during both normal and extreme conditions,’ according to NERC
- Parts of the Midwest will experience a ‘capacity shortfall’ driven by increased demand and power plant shutdowns as states turn to more renewable energy sources like hydro and solar.
- Wild fires could put extra strain on power grids, as could drought
- Regular NERC says it’s a ‘perfect storm’ that could leave millions in dark
Read the original article by clicking here.
