Severe weather continues to be the major cause of power outages in Texas and California as well as other states.

In Texas where the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is responsible for maintaining the electric grid as well as assuring competitive prices for the energy sources required by the utilities to generate power, has been having problems keeping the lights on in the state.

Experts are concerned that Texas power plants will start to fail in providing power due to massive heat waves. Also a problem is that rigs that mine for oil had to shut down causing the possibility of blackouts and price hikes of energy resources required to generate power. This may result in the utilities being unable to supply enough power to satisfy demand.

According to Bloomberg, Texas power plants are running nonstop and ignoring maintenance and repair needs in order to meet the demand. Temperatures in Texas have been above 100°F resulting in a spike in demand.

Because of this, ERCOT has asked residents to conserve energy twice in only three days. Apparently, according to local news outlets, people have been responding by reducing their demand for power. Demand has dropped by about as much energy needed to power 100,000 homes.

However, despite this, there are still fears that there could be breakdowns of the network that provides the power.

During one week in July, power usage in Texas broke records as residents have been cranking up their air conditioners in response to the heat wave.

ERCOT operates the Texas grid for more than 26 million customers, about 90 percent of the state’s power load. The organization says that it has enough resources to meet demand.

AccuWeather reported that Houston, the biggest city in the state, has experienced temperatures of 98°F and as much as 101°F. The normal high for the city is 94°.

ERCOT expects power use will exceed the current record of 78,419 megawatts when it reaches 81,778. One megawatt can power about 1,000 U.S. homes on a typical day. However, that amount only powers about 200 homes on a hot summer day.

Power prices at the ERCOT North Hub, which includes Dallas, decreased to a one-week low of $144 per megawatt hours from $160. That averages a $79 drop for the year compared to $141 in 2021 and a five-year average of $56 in 2017-2021.

In the west, the threat to a continuous power supply is the drought that has affected hydropower plants’ ability to supply power. Some of the west’s largest reservoirs are at historic low levels.

The California Department of Water Resource has the responsibility of operating eight major hydroelectric facilities. In 2021, water levels at Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, had fallen to 41 percent capacity. In addition, last year Northern California’s Lake Oroville’s water levels dropped so low that when summer arrived it was feared that the hydroelectric plant there would not have enough water to generate power.

Those involved in supplying power to California residents fear that severe drought could threaten the ability to supply power in the west for years to come. A contributing fact is that water elevation at the Hoover Dam is at its lowest since Lake Mead was first filled.

The threat to the power supply is not only causing problems in Texas and California. It appears that a nationwide crisis is emerging and electric power-grid operators are warning of a potential of rolling blackouts in many states. Midwest operators of power plants have warned that a potential shortage of electricity during peak demands in the summer months.

The nation’s coming reliance to wind power may not be enough to prevent future blackouts. Wind is an inconsistent source of energy and there is currently a lack of enough batteries necessary to store the power wind would provide.

Beyond severe weather as a cause of power outages, the nationwide grid also has issues that could contribute to power outages throughout the country. According to a grid reliability report, outages are likely in parts of the Midwest, California, and Texas. The report pointed out that in the Midwest, California and Texas there might not be enough power to combat the rise of temperatures and consumer demand.

Also contributing to fears of more blackouts is that the national electric grid is old, which could also lead to power outages especially with the coming of severely high temperatures during the summer months.

Moreover, residents in the Midwest should prepare themselves for possible rotating power outages similar to what is occurring in California due to sizzling temperatures.

To escape the possibility of your home being caught in a power outage, perhaps you should consider adding a standby generator that turns on automatically the moment an electric utility blacks out.

APElectric is offering a wide range of in stock generators manufactured by some of the best generator manufacturers in the country. If you want to stay ahead of possible blackouts visit the company’s website and review all the products they have available.