Community Corner
Power Outages the New Normal Unless Grids Updated, Report Says
DOE report says that climate changes will make power outages the new normal unless power grids are updated.
According to a report by NJ Spotlight, widespread power outages due to extreme weather, such as powerful hurricanes, are likely to occur more frequently in New Jersey and elsewhere, according to a federal agency.
Storm surges flooding electricity utility power substations. Warming water temperatures, creating problems for power plants relying on water to cool generating units. Increasing air temperatures, which decrease the efficiency of the electric transmission and distribution system at the same time demand for energy is rising.
Sound familiar? New Jersey has already suffered from some of these events, most notably huge storm surges that flooded 58 utility substations, knocking out power to millions of customers during Hurricane Sandy last October.
All are expected to be more the rule than the exception, according to a new report from the US Department of Energy. “The nation’s ability to produce, deliver, and store is energy is affected by climate change,’’ it concluded.Click here to read the NJ Spotlight article in full.
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