Biden Blackouts Loom

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Large swaths of the United States electric grid are at risk for shortfalls this summer, which could lead to blackouts. This increased risk is due partly to the massive shift away from reliable power generation from coal, gas, and nuclear toward renewable sources.
• Fossil fuels account for 60% of electricity generated in the U.S., but President Biden and Democrats in Congress are working to restrict their use.
• Consumers are facing soaring energy prices, but Democrats continue to push ahead with their failed energy policies.

In late spring, monitors warned that nearly two-thirds of the United States could experience blackouts this summer as a result of reliability challenges for the electric grid. The news came as families were already paying higher prices for energy to heat, cool, and power their homes. From June 2021 to May 2022, the consumer price index for electricity rose 12%; it was the largest 12-month increase since August 2006.

This bleak situation has not stopped President Biden and Democrats in Congress from pursuing their radical energy agenda, which will push prices even higher, further strain the grid, and undermine its reliability.

Reliability At risk

In May, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation released its Summer Reliability Assessment. NERC is the non-profit regulatory authority that monitors the grid covering the U.S., Canada, and a segment of northern Mexico. It called its findings “sobering.” In particular, the West and Midwest were identified as being at heightened risk for reliability challenges and energy shortfalls. These challenges threaten blackouts and brownouts for tens of millions of Americans living in these regions. The report cited several reasons for the heightened risk, including a shortfall of electricity generating capacity in the Midwest following the retirement of older baseload generators. In January, the Energy Information Administration estimated that 85% of generating retirements in 2022 would be coal-fired power plants.

Much of the Country at Heightened Risk for Blackouts

Source: NERC

With prices sky high and blackouts on the horizon, what are Democrats doing? They are using these as a justification to push for even more renewable energy and a massive shift to electric vehicles that draw their power from the grid. In late May, President Biden boasted about the “incredible transition” underway and said that as a result we “will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels.”

In reality, Democrats’ policies to restrict the production of affordable and reliable American energy are already contributing to higher costs for consumers. Their latest “solution” to the high prices they helped create is a natural gas tax they have promised will be included in the next stage of their reckless tax and spending spree. This will only further push up energy prices for consumers.

The rapid transition to renewable energy sources President Biden is seeking will also further threaten reliability by cutting off the electricity generated by fossil fuels before other power sources are ready to fill the void. Fossil fuels accounted for just over 60% of electricity generated in the country last year, according to EIA. Nuclear power generated nearly 20% of electricity, wind 9%, hydropower 6%, and solar about 3%. Slashing the majority of generation capacity to placate liberal climate activists would hamstring reliability by making a significant share of our power generation dependent on the weather. This is already the case in California, where residents are facing another summer with concerns of blackouts. Just last summer the state was scrambling to build gas plants to supplant power and avoid blackouts. Europe also has faced energy deficits because of its aggressive climate pledges.

Democrats’ green agenda will compound the current constraints on the grid without any legitimate plan to address reliability or higher costs. President Biden has stated his objective of reaching net-zero emissions from electricity by 2035. The president also has called for EVs to constitute half of all new vehicle sales by 2030, and he wants to electrify the federal government. Democrats in the Senate have even introduced legislation that would electrify the entire economy. These initiatives will significantly increase demand for electricity, putting substantial stress on the grid. Just to replace all vehicles in the country with EVs would require 25% more electricity than we produce today. Other efforts by the left to force the electrification of homes and buildings will simply drive demand higher. Replacing current home heating systems with heat pumps, for example, could cost consumers thousands of dollars in installation fees.

The U.S. has the resources it needs to generate affordable and reliable power that can bring down prices and bolster grid reliability. But getting that power into Americans’ homes will require Democrats to acknowledge the havoc their policies are wreaking and abandon their disastrous energy agenda.