Summer blackouts are increasing in the US

As global warming progresses, health risks are likely to increase. Climate change will intensify disasters such as: storm and Wildfire Frequent power outages and sudden increases in demand for air conditioning also strain power grids, potentially leaving the most vulnerable without access to life-saving cooling and electrical medical equipment.

Climate Central collected data from the Department of Energy on power outages that occurred between 2000 and 2023, specifically looking at the warmer months between May and September each year, when people rely most on their air conditioners. The analysis focused on outages caused by severe weather or wildfires, which can be exacerbated by hot, dry weather.

Their findings are consistent with other studies of extended power outages in the U.S.: Americans will experience an average of 5.5 hours of power outage in 2022, up from about 3.5 hours in 2013. According to the U.S. Energy Information AdministrationThis includes all types of outages throughout the year, but the longer outages are caused by “major events” such as weather disasters. Without these major events, the length of outages would have remained roughly the same over the past decade.

According to a Climate Central analysis, certain regions have fared worse than others over the past few years: The South experienced more weather-related outages than any other region during warm seasons, with 175 outages between 2000 and 2023. Texas led the nation as the state with the most weather-related outages, with 107 outages during the same period.

There’s no doubt that the country’s aging electric grid infrastructure needs to be upgraded to be more resilient to climate change. Burying power lines underground can protect them from extreme weather events in some cases. Residential solar power systems and microgrids can help keep your home powered if a disaster takes down power plants and power lines. And switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy can prevent climate-related disasters from becoming devastating in the first place.