Residents of the United States look at severe weather and some price issues as reasons why the country is experiencing more blackouts. Readers of this blog recognize the severe weather problems as an issue with hurricanes, snowstorms, severe drought, and massive summer storms as the reason for the crisis. The experience in Texas when that state suffered massive outages due to severe winter exposed how the roller coaster ride of energy costs influenced by shortages has also become a major reason for the problem.

If you guessed that the United States has more power outages than other developed countries, you’d be right.

The apparent fix is the upgrade of the nation’s power grid. We know that Congress is now debating legislation that could help on this front. But as things grind through the game of politics, one might think that the nation’s utilities would make at least the initial steps to try to alleviate the problem. The thing is that they aren’t. As a result, more blackouts may be in our future. Outages in the United States are up to record numbers. And, a reason why utilities are not stepping up is because of the continuing severe weather due to climate change and the cost of upgrading the infrastructure.

Believe it or not, some vicinities of the country are relying on power lines set up way back in the 1880s. Most of today’s grid was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. It was determined even then that the life expectancy of this work would be 50 years. We’re more than 20 years beyond that. Add the problem of growing demand and it is not unreasonable for people to think that the old infrastructure will flicker out.

Statistics Show The Problem

Studies have shown that major outages that affect more than 50,000 homes and businesses have grown ten times more common from the mid-1980s to 2012. From 2003 to 2012, severe weather caused outages doubled. In a report published by the American Society of Engineers in 2017, there were 3,571 total outages in 2015 that lasted an average of 49 minutes. According to the U.S. Energy Administration in a study they did in 2016, the average utility customer experienced 1.3 power outages in 2016.Total blackout time in that case averaged four hours.

Utilities Blame Other Things For Their Neglect

It may be true that falling trees during severe weather conditions cause much of the blackouts. The trees fall into power lines cutting off the power. In regions where there are a lot of wooded areas, utilities have the responsibility of trimming tree limbs to avoid such problems. However, tree maintenance is a major expense for utilities.

As many as 68 percent of us obtain our electricity through distribution systems managed by investor-owned utilities. These companies are obligated to their customers as well as their shareholders. And that’s the rub. As customers call for continuous innovations to the grid to assure power, shareholders are more in favor of profits. So companies put off projects to enhance the grid. Delays in enhancements occur when the company favors the demands of the shareholders rather than their customers.

People in the know expect that if this continues to be the case, than things could get a whole lot worse. Witness the affects of the wildfires in the west to the spike in power outages and rolling outages.

Upgrading The Grid Is A Major Undertaking

Once commitments are made to do something, the task is gigantic. The project would have to involve transferring power lines underground to protect them from severe weather and fire. Some utilities in Southern California have started the endeavor. However, it’s expensive. Putting power lines underground costs $3 million per mile in urban areas and $1 million in rural places.

Another factor that needs to be addressed is better monitoring of the grid. Today, utilities respond when a failure occurs. There are now devices that can recognize a problem before it becomes a major failure. Such advancements including the use of algorithm-based monitoring can manage the grid. These things need to be incorporated into the system.

People who’s job it is to renovate the grid favor using microgrids, systems that are fed from distributed sources including solar panels. These microgrids could sustain power to local networks when the main grid fails. These sub-systems can also help to combat cyber attacks on the main grid.

The way we govern utilities may also need to be changed beyond the infrastructure work. In the United States, local and state organizations govern the utilities in their region. It is believed that we will have to adopt the European model of having a national regulating body administer over the utilities.

It’s A Worldwide Crisis

The energy crisis that is plaguing the United States is also affecting nations around the world. Much of the problem is due to the cost of the resources needed to generate energy. For example, it has been forecast that the cost of oil could raise to $100 a barrow. Another problem worldwide is actually committing to transitioning to cleaner energy.

China, like California, is initiating rolling blackouts. In India, power stations are running out of coal. The rising prices that are shocking American electricity consumers is also bothering consumers worldwide.

In Europe, the cost of natural gas is equal to $230 per barrel in oil terms. That’s a spike of 130 percent since the beginning of September. Moreover, it is eight times higher than the same period last year.

In East Asia, the cost of natural gas is up 85 percent since September, which equates to about $204 per barrel of oil. So far, we’ve been lucky in the U.S. Prices here are much lower.

The price spike in natural gas is forcing a rise in the price of coal and oil worldwide. Keep in mind that the use of coal and oil is bad for the environment.

A major aspect of the worldwide crisis is the spiking demand for energy as the economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

An unusual severe and long winter earlier in the year in Europe has drained the stocks of natural gas. The rising demand for energy has hindered attempts to re-stock.

In addition, China’s growing dependence on natural gas has caused a shortage in the liquefied natural gas market. A decline in Russian gas exports has made the problem worse.

The best we can hope for is that this winter offers average temperatures thus reducing demand for heat and allowing for this to settle in the second quarter of 2022. However, what is more likely is severe weather and that’s expected to create huge problems, particularly in countries that depend on natural gas. The UK is the country in Europe that is expecting the highest shortfall in energy resources. As a result, the UK could demand factories reduce output and gas consumption to assure adequate supplies for homes.

The crunch is on and it’s not just in the United States. To protect your family from blackouts you should consider the purchase of a standby generator, which can continue to provide power to your home in case of an outage. Visit APElectric.com to review the stock of generators the company has to offer. Its line includes some of the most popular brands in the industry. While you’re there, you may want to check out the calculator page that shows you how to select the right generator for your particular situation.