Penna Dexter

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has issued a report warning of a “high risk of energy emergencies during peak summer conditions” across much of the country. NERC estimates that two-thirds of the U.S. could experience blackouts this summer.

Progressives want to limit our dependence on fossil fuels. They are shutting down coal plants without enough full-time power to avoid frequent and prolonged grid failure.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, “Solar and wind are rapidly increasing, but they’re as erratic as the weather and can’t be commanded to ramp up when electricity demand surges.”

In an article at Townhall.com, Former Wisconsin State Senator Frank Lasee reveals a few “dirty green secrets.”

• First: “coal is full-time power and wind and solar are not.”
• And secondly: “wind and solar produce little or no energy 70% of the time.”
• Third: Electric grids cannot store electricity without batteries and batteries are scarce and expensive.
• And fourth: When supply doesn’t meet demand, you have blackouts.

States are shutting down coal and nuclear plants as dependence on renewables grows.  When the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, there aren’t enough natural-gas-fired plants to provide the necessary backup.

The problem is national. Among the Journal’s examples:

Michigan just shut down a nuclear generating station that provided 6.5% of the state’s electricity and 15% of the state’s clean energy. The state is focused only on building weather-dependent renewable energy, leaving Michiganders with less reliable electricity and higher prices.

California’s grid-overseer is warning of power outages this summer. The state normally imports power from neighboring states when the need arises. “But coal plants across the West have been shutting down as renewables grow.”

Manufacturers in the Midwest may no longer be able to rely on “cheap and reliable power….especially if there’s little wind.”

Without sufficient replacement energy, we’ll have outages, putting our economy, national security, and lives at risk.

Perhaps that means you should get a generator.