Over Half of US at Elevated Risk of Winter Blackouts Due to Biden Energy Policies, Watchdog Comments on Industry Report
An energy watchdog group is warning that President Joe Biden’s energy policy has put more than half the country at elevated risk of blackouts this winter.
Citing a new energy report, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association pointed to Biden’s policies as a direct threat to the stability of America’s energy grid, according to Fox Business Network.
That threat may be acutely felt in the coming months, as AccuWeather is predicting a harsh winter season.
“A strengthening El Niño will make this winter … colder with plenty more snow for millions of people who live in major cities,” AccuWeather reported on Oct. 4, adding that the weather will be especially severe across the Central and Eastern U.S.
It could be a recipe for serious issues for the electrical grid, according to the Winter Reliability Assessment from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
The group explained that residents from Texas to New England could be subject to blackouts during the expected extreme cold this winter due to “inadequate generator weatherization and limitations to natural gas infrastructure,” the Washington Examiner reported.
“The confluence of both of those factors has year after year resulted in wide swaths of generators being unavailable for some of our most critical winter periods and hours where the system needs it the most,” said John Moura, NERC director of reliability assessment and performance analysis.
This year, over half of Americans are at risk, far more than last year, when NERC found that a quarter of the population’s power supply was in trouble.
NERC’s 2023–2024 WRA finds much of North America is at an elevated risk of insufficient energy supply to meet demand in extreme conditions. Areas identified as being at elevated risk extend over the eastern two-thirds of the continent: https://t.co/e0yXQTYlBU #reliabilityweek pic.twitter.com/p7gEaZMj7V
— NERC (@NERC_Official) November 8, 2023
Residents of Texas are well acquainted with the issue. Millions were left without power during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, and nearly 250 people lost their lives.
According to the Examiner, the outages in Texas were caused by natural gas generators failing to come online.
“While gas operators are taking steps to weatherize their conditions and help lower risks for the winter weather, NERC officials said their assessment is that it is ‘unlikely’ that actions will be enough to reduce the risk down to an acceptable level,” the outlet reported.
There is another problem, though.
The NRECA pointed to the Environmental Protection Agency as a culprit in “decreasing generation due to the premature closures of coal and gas-fired power plants, and permitting delays that prevent new infrastructure from being built and connected to the grid,” Fox reported.
The group also blasted a proposed EPA rule aimed at reducing power plant emissions by 90 percent by 2035, saying the Biden administration’s plan uses “unproven technologies and unrealistic compliance timelines” and “threatens electric reliability and affordability for every American.”
The EPA claims its proposed regulations will help “tackle the climate crisis and protect public health.”
But the NRECA is having none of it.
“The industry can’t be any clearer about the escalating dangers posed by a mismanaged energy transition,” the organization said. “Just as the grid is in desperate need of policy support, policymakers are ignoring the warning signs of eroding reliability and continuing to push reckless and irresponsible policies forward.”
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