Power outages from severe weather have doubled over the past two decades across the US, as a warming climate stirs more destructive storms that cripple broad segments of the nation’s aging electrical grid, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data.
Forty states are experiencing longer outages – and the problem is most acute in regions seeing more extreme weather, US Department of Energy data shows. The blackouts can be harmful and even deadly for the elderly, disabled and other vulnerable communities.
Power grid maintenance expenses are skyrocketing as utilities upgrade decades-old transmission lines and equipment. And that means customers who are hit with more frequent and longer weather outages also are paying more for electricity.
“The electric grid is our early warning,” said University of California, Berkeley grid expert Alexandra von Meier. “Climate change is here and we’re feeling real effects.”
The AP analysis found:
The number of outages tied to severe weather rose from about 50 annually nationwide in the early 2000s to more than 100 annually on average over the past five years.
The frequency and length of power failures are at their highest levels since reliability tracking began in 2013 – with US customers on average experiencing more than eight hours of outages in 2020.
Maine, Louisiana and California each experienced at least a 50% increase in outage duration even as residents endured mounting interruption costs over the past several years.
In California alone, power losses have affected tens of thousands of people who rely on electricity for medical needs.
The analysis looked at electricity disturbance data submitted by utilities to the US Department of Energy to identify weather-related outages. It also examined utility-level data covering outages of more than five minutes, including how long they lasted and how often they occurred. Department officials declined to comment.
Driving the increasingly commonplace blackouts are weather disasters now rolling across the country with seasonal consistency.
Winter storms called nor’easters barrel into New England and shred decrepit electrical networks. Hot summers spawn hurricanes that pound the Gulf coast and eastern seaboard, plunging communities into the dark, sometimes for months. And in fall, west coast windstorms trigger forced power shutoffs across huge areas to protect against deadly wildfires from downed equipment.
