Preparing the Grid for More Intense Heat Waves

Writing in Wired, Maryn McKenna and Matt Simon describe the risk posed by intensifying heat waves to the electrical grid.

McKenna and Simon note that “For all its faults, the electric grid is surprisingly resilient to heat emergencies.” As the article explains, “The challenge of a heat wave is that a grid has to constantly balance its supply of power and the demand for it.” Utility companies typically address this through importing energy and rolling blackouts when needed. A large operator like Arizona Public Service (APS) in Phoenix, for example, has plans in place to buy power from neighboring states when demand spikes. According to Justin Joiner, VP of resource management at APS, “It's like an airplane—we have multiple redundancies for everything.”

But heat is starting to impact electric grids more and more. “Earlier research by the multi-university 3HEAT Study that modeled the effect of a heat wave plus grid failure on Phoenix (and also Atlanta and Detroit) has found that the risk of urban blackouts lasting at least an hour and affecting at least 50,000 households increased by 151 percent between 2015 and 2021.” Extended blackouts can have lethal consequences, particularly for the elderly, people with chronic conditions, and people with medical devices who need access to constant power.