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Microgrids are one solution that cities like New Orleans have already looked into. Home solar systems and even electric vehicles can step in to provide backup power during blackouts, for example.
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Renewable energy - particularly solar panels paired with batteries and microgrids - has the potential to make the grid more resilient when disaster does strike. More money could soon flow towards transforming the US energy system if the $1.75 trillion budget reconciliation bill makes it through a final round of congressional wrangling. When Hurricane Ida tore through Louisiana, for example, it knocked out all eight transmission lines that bring electricity into New Orleans - leaving residents in the dark for more than a week. Those lines also need to be hardened to withstand storms and fires supercharged by climate change.
POWER OUTAGE ZIP
The bipartisan infrastructure bill just passed by Congress includes $65 billion to fix up the power grid, including a big investment in new transmission lines to zip renewable energy from far-flung wind and solar farms to homes across the country. To keep the lights on in a warming world, America’s aging grid, much of which was built in the middle of the 20th century, needs a serious overhaul. Lives were lost, too, as residents dealt with weather extremes without air conditioning, heat, or life-saving medical devices. So did more than 4.5 million customers during a sudden cold snap in Texas in February. Around 1.2 million customers lost power across eight states in August and September because of Hurricane Ida.
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While 2021 isn’t over, this year has already been bad when it comes to power outages. Energy Information Administration, Annual Electric Power Industry Report Image: EIA Without these extreme events, outages caused by small snags (like pesky wildlife and tree-trimming gone wrong) would have stayed roughly flat at about two hours a year since 2013. If you see downed power lines, please stay at least 30 feet away from them and call us at 86 to report the location immediately. A derecho in Iowa - the costliest thunderstorm in US history - damaged a nuclear power plant so badly that it had to be retired early. In addition to cyclones, an ice storm wiped out electricity for 300,000 customers in Oklahoma in October 2020. Tropical Storm Isaias knocked out power for about 750,000 customers in Connecticut, another state that suffered way longer outages than the national average. 2020 was the most active Atlantic hurricane season ever documented, and five hurricanes dealt repeated blows to Louisiana’s grid. Major weather events are primarily to blame. A problem that is bound to get worse as climate change fuels even more violent weather