First California, then Texas …What is the next victim of Rolling Blackouts? This terrible chain of events started in 2020 summer in California, when in 20 years first power outages hit millions of consumers. The reason behind it was a record-breaking heat that increased energy demand with no sufficient supply prepared. Millions of residents felt the impact of those power outages, given that due to Covid 19 situation, the majority of their activities were conducted at home. This summer was just a beginning and a real Pandora’s box that has kept substantial disturbances from Rolling Blackouts. Labor Day and November were also attacked by power outages, again leaving thousands of consumers without power.
Texas has become another recent state victim of Rolling Blackouts. Likewise, the reason behind it was climate change and the winter storm that skyrocketed the energy demand. More than 4 million residents had no power at all for days. The majority of them also didn’t have water to drink. This tragic event led to 35 deaths as a result of a record-breaking winter storm. The grid didn’t operate from the beginning, having a major system breakdown. Texas made a huge mistake regarding federal energy regulations and backed up the management of preparations. When the demand in the residents jumped up, the backup of oil, coal, and nuclear should have jumped in to balance the demand-supply curve. However, there were substantial errors in coal, oil, and natural gas energy generation systems. Moreover, half of the nuclear plant generation was lost.
Lessons must be learned from both of these states that have experienced severe Rolling blackouts:
- Climate change is not a joke, it’s real, and everyone feels its impact every day. Those record-breaking climate occurrences that triggered power outages speak loud about the disruptive consequences of climate change.
- Proper planning is the key to energy generation, and preplanning plays a big role in it. The responsible body should carefully examine and plan the peak hours and possible worst scenarios.
- Ongoing maintenance of the grid system is crucial to avoid Rolling Blackouts. In both states, the grid system malfunctioned because of severe climate conditions.
- Diversification of energy is necessary not to rely on one system and become vulnerable.
Renewable energy reliance is one way to avoid unpleasant power outages and system malfunctioning at the state level. For consumers, the easiest way to secure their energy from Rolling Blackouts and price fluctuations is installing solar panel systems and generating your own power.
The author of a publication: Elen Gevorgyan
