Ongoing heat wave taxes power grids worldwide

Is it merely the issue of the world getting hotter that is causing rolling brownouts and blackouts? Or have leaders just kicked the can down the road for too long on fixing things?

Before I start, world leaders, I get it — our world is fraught with peril, problems are always cropping up, and there are just more important things to spend tax revenue on right now, while other things — like an aging power grid — can wait. The average age of large power transformers in the United States is 40 years old. Cheers and Knight Rider were just premiering on TV when those things were installed. Still, it was always a cost that could wait a little longer for our illustrious leaders, who saw fit to spend money elsewhere on clearly crucial programs.

From giving $3.6 billion in stimulus money to deceased citizens, to Dr. Fauci’s NIAID turning monkeys transgender, to a literal bridge to nowhere, government leadership and bureaucrats alike know how to fritter away disgusting amounts of money. Yet when you ask why they can’t finance things like housing the homeless, the answer is usually the same: “We don’t have the money,”. Translation: helping the homeless isn’t profitable. Neither is an ounce of prevention to keep citizens from dying in the heat thanks to strains on our power grids brought on by exceptionally hot weather.

The news has been ablaze in recent months with fears of energy shortages, and recently those fears have materialized. The seemingly imminent threat of rolling blackouts currently plagues California’s ailing grid, struggling to keep up with energy demands while a particularly hot summer continues to menace officials and energy companies alike. The problem is severe enough that citizens are being asked to limit charging of their electric vehicles. Define irony: Your state plans to ban the sale of gas vehicles but also tells you not to charge your electric vehicle. The Amish were right all along. Shoutouts to Amos Miller. But I digress.

California state power grid managers blamed a ‘miscommunication’ with the Northern California Power Agency for the blackouts several Northern California communities experienced on Tuesday. If not for the usage of the Emergency Alert System to urge citizens to conserve power, the problem would’ve been much more widespread throughout the state. And Californians aren’t the only ones suffering.

On August 30th, approximately 22,000 citizens in Denver, CO who receive their power from Xcel Energy found themselves locked out of their smart thermostats and unable to lower the temperature or adjust it at all thanks to the fact that they had enrolled in the companies ‘AC Rewards’ program. Temperatures inside their homes reached as high as 88°F (31°C) while temperates outside soared well into the 90s. The program is meant to ease the strain on power demands during soaring temperatures. And what’s the reward for being so environmentally friendly for customers who opt in to this program? A onetime enrollment credit of $100 and $25 annually for every year they’re enrolled. Yes, really. You will own nothing and be sweaty.

The problem isn’t just in the U.S., however, it manifests abroad as well. Spanish officials ordered that all thermostats be set at 80°F (27°C) in all public spaces to ease power consumption. This includes bars, shops, offices, public transit stations, etc.

Power grids across the European Union have borne the brunt of spiking demand this summer as well, thanks to drought conditions and exceptionally high temperatures causing many nuclear plants to have to reduce their output due to a lack of water available to cool them properly. This has forced the hands of energy companies, making them begin burning gas to produce more electricity, tapping into the supply just as Europe tries to store as much gas as possible to prepare for the coming winter. Which, as we know, they still receive a sizable portion from Russia. Or did, until Russia cut off gas supplies indefinitely.

The E.U.’s President, Ursula von der Leyen, is putting several measures into place to curtail European dependence on Russian energy, which also involves limiting energy expenditure. President von der Leyen states, “This calls for smart reduction in demand. We need a strategy to flatten the peaks which drives the price of electricity," Huh. Where have I heard that type of rhetoric?

The story about the EU’s gas dependency may not be expressly about a power grid situation, but it’s pertinent news to this article because it involves the hubris of world leaders in trying to fix a problem after it has already become nearly untenable, rather than getting ahead of it. Which, in my opinion, pretty much describes most of the crises we are currently facing. Sure, the pandemic’s full scope of destruction still hasn’t been realized, but many of the problems placed on the backburner until it’s nearly too late to fix them could’ve been addressed years ago, if legislators weren’t addicted to pork. Which is ironic because I’m pretty sure at least some of them are meant to abstain from pork for religious reasons. But then I suppose pork barrel spending is both halal and kosher. If it isn’t, you could’ve fooled me.

Pragmatism shouldn’t be exclusive to election cycles. Fix the problems before they cause a crisis.

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