Back in the summer of 2020, California residents had to endure rolling blackouts in the middle of a blistering heatwave.
The blackouts themselves weren't unique. When temperatures sizzle, California utilities frequently have to cut the power in areas where energized lines have the potential to spark a wildfire.
What made the 2020 rolling blackouts so ominous was their cause.
In the summer of 2020, California simply didn’t have enough energy to go around.
Power outages are common enough that we’ve all experienced what it’s like to live without air-conditioning or lights for a few hours. But power outages caused by electricity shortages are exceedingly rare.
Or, at any rate, at least they used to be.
Soaring energy prices
After a relatively mild beginning, summer finally struck with a vengeance, and most of the country is currently being smothered by an oppressive heatwave.
But we’re also experiencing global shortages of oil, coal, and natural gas, one painful consequence of which has already materialized in the form of skyrocketing energy prices.
Overall energy prices have risen almost 35% in the last year, with prices at the pump having soared by a jaw-dropping 60%.
Since utility companies generate power by burning fossil fuels, homeowners and businesses who haven’t already locked in a low electric rate by going solar have been hit with a 12% price hike in the last year. And further rate increases are expected throughout the summer.
But soaring prices are just one unpleasant feature of the global energy glut. Experts also predict the rolling blackouts that plagued California two summers ago may return and start spreading to the rest of the nation this summer.
4 types of power failures
Four types of problems can cause you to lose power.
Distribution Failures: This is what happens when a local power line goes down. Distribution failures affect a limited number of people in a specific area and have always been the most common cause of power outages.
Transmission Failures: This is what happens when there’s a larger-scale problem transmitting electricity to local areas. Transmission failures can be caused by several factors, including weather, overloaded infrastructure, a computer glitch, or even human error. They’re much rarer than distribution failures but can affect millions or even tens of millions of utility customers.
Planned Outages: Sometimes utilities have to cut your power intentionally to do routine maintenance or, as in the case of California’s 2021 rolling blackouts, to avoid potentially hazardous situations like wildfires.
The rolling blackouts that hit California in the summer of 2020 were also planned. But what made them unique is that they had to be implemented because of an actual shortage in the amount of available electricity.
Losing power because there simply isn't enough to go around used to be exceedingly rare in America.
But, on top of runaway inflation and all the other problems we’ve experienced these past few years, shortage-induced rolling blackouts may be becoming a lot more common.