California is poised to break record temperatures, scorch the state, and push power grids to breaking point in preparation for a Labor Day weekend heatwave. On Wednesday, the California Independent Grid Operator, which oversees the state’s power grid, said: first time Many “flex alerts” may ask Californians to reduce their energy usage and avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles between 4pm and 9pm. Increased demand as people return home from work puts extra stress on the grid.
As expected, there was an immediate backlash. “This is the reality of backward Democratic leadership.” Said Twitter of Congressman Austin Scott (Republican-Georgia). “Their ‘green energy’ infrastructure can’t even support expensive electric vehicles. ”
The argument that clean energy is the cause of grid failures is far-fetched and irrelevant. It’s also inaccurate. The problem isn’t the energy source, it’s the fact that extreme weather is hitting the state.
Mark Dyson, Managing Director of the Carbon-Free Power Program at RMI, a clean energy think tank, said: “But that argument does not correspond to the facts.”
Dyson said some of the country’s biggest blackouts in recent history were the result of failing fossil fuel infrastructure, not renewable energy. Texas is a compelling example of this. In 2021, a winter storm famously shut down the natural gas infrastructure that was responsible for most of the state’s electricity generation, leaving millions of Texans without power for nearly a week and hundreds of Died. Republican policymakers in the state were quick to falsely blame renewable energy, especially wind turbines, for the blackouts despite all the evidence to the contrary.
The same wind power continued to power the state’s grid during a heatwave that shut down natural gas plants this summer. Policymakers in Texas seemed less enthusiastic about praising wind turbines than they attacked them.
Climate change deniers like to point out that renewable energy isn’t always available and electric cars consume a lot of energy. Both of these things are true. But under normal operating conditions, neither of these matters. Dyson said the electric vehicle market is growing, but they’re still in a “majority boom” state of California’s energy use, and the company’s software allows charging during off-peak hours when demand is low. Can be scheduled automatically. On the other hand, despite California’s heavy investment in clean energy, California’s energy mix is still mostly powered by fossil fuels, and his throughout-the-day variability of wind and solar power is Easy to plan for when the state is not facing extreme heat. .
But whatever the fuel source, there is no getting around the fact that the power grid is unprepared for climate change and the extreme heat it brings.
Heat’s impact on the grid is two-fold, explained Eric Fournier, director of research at UCLA’s Environment and Sustainability Institute. First, on hot days, more people drive long hours with the air conditioner on, which increases the demand for electricity. Second, heat has a physical impact on the grid infrastructure, reducing the efficiency of power lines and pushing transformers and thermal power plants to thermal limits. As temperatures rise, these air conditioners have to consume more power to cool the air, putting even more strain on the power grid. “So this feedback gives him a loop,” he says Fournier.
“We designed the grid and created 20th century reliability requirements,” says Dyson. “We didn’t know the weather was going to be more extreme, both cold and hot. ”
As climate change continues to cause extreme weather and grid failures, it may be tempting to look back and say that grids were more stable in the 20th century and should be reverted. . way at that time. But that would only make things worse by ignoring the reality of why grid failures are happening.
“We are at a very delicate and potentially dangerous transition point,” Fournier said. “If renewables are portrayed as a problem, we may miss an opportunity to prevent a truly desperate and dangerous level of climate change. Right now there is a short window. It’s going to be really ugly.”
Changing its trajectory would be difficult and uncomfortable, and power outages are likely to follow. But heatwaves and other climate disasters are our new reality and are expected to get worse. Fossil fuels got us here. To get out, you have to look elsewhere.
