Power Grids Aren’t Evolving Fast Enough for Global Warming
Solar energy is the future, but it isn’t working with a system that is decades old and built for fossil fuels.
“How to do this is the trillion-dollar question.”
Photographer: Alfredo Estrella/AFP — Getty Images
The heat wave currently baking the Western U.S. has produced a record high — 133 degrees Fahrenheit — in Death Valley and triggered rolling blackouts affecting millions of Californians. With demand for electricity threatening to exceed supply, the state sought extra capacity from producers in Washington and Arizona, but those states also faced soaring temperatures and spiking demands. Making matters worse, cloudy conditions and faltering winds cut the energy coming from several large solar and wind generators. Power grid managers in California chose rolling blackouts to avoid a more serious systemic failure.
Extreme heat is the proximate cause of California’s current trouble. But behind this lies the increasing pressure that global warming is putting on power systems everywhere. The recent explosive growth of renewable energy sources may help keep temperatures from rising even faster, yet it also makes managing the grid more complex, as it requires integrating diverse energy sources subject to the fickle whims of clouds and winds. Rising temperatures and more extreme weather also make those sources increasingly prone to disruption.