Florida is set to experience heat index values of up to 115 degrees this week. Persistent, scorching temperatures covered much of the Southwest, expanding into the Midwest and Northeast in July. Record after record was broken.
And yes so far, the nation's electric grid has held firm. No blackouts, as happened in California in 2022. No brownouts as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas warned could happen this summer. No rolling power outages as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) alerted might be an issue in the hottest summer months.
Instead, several things are going right.
Energy experts say four things have come together to make this summer, while hot, nowhere near as dangerous as it might have been had power systems failed leaving thousands without the air conditioning that's now a matter of survival during heat waves.
- More diversification of energy sources, including increasing amounts of wind and solar
- Better planning and preparedness
- Higher levels of hydroelectric power due to heavy winter rain and snow in the West
- Demand response programs offer consumers rebates to ease up on energy use in the hottest parts of the day.
"It's kind of sad that we expect the grid to fail," said Kyri Baker, a professor of engineering at the University of Boulder, Colorado who studies power systems. While the energy grid as a whole is getting creaky, the energy sources are diversifying and making it more flexible. READ MORE...
