North American Electric Reliability Corp warns policymakers are ignoring warning signs of higher winter blackouts

Bidenomics

Important Takeaways:

  • Power grid watchdog warns of higher winter blackout risks, cites Biden energy policies as top threat
  • The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) warned this week that more than half the U.S. is at an elevated risk of blackouts this winter due to a combination of increased demand, regional power generation shortfalls and potential fuel delivery challenges in the event of prolonged cold weather events.
  • …the key factors contributing to the risk are increasing demand for electricity to power things like electric vehicles, decreasing generation due to the premature closures of coal and gas-fired power plants, and permitting delays that prevent new infrastructure from being built and connected to the grid.
  • The NRECA hit out directly at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed power plant rule aimed at reducing plant emissions by 90% by 2035, saying the Biden administration’s plan uses “unproven technologies and unrealistic compliance timelines” and “threatens electric reliability and affordability for every American.”
  • “The industry can’t be any clearer about the escalating dangers posed by a mismanaged energy transition,” the organization said in reaction to the NERC findings. “Just as the grid is in desperate need of policy support, policymakers are ignoring the warning signs of eroding reliability and continuing to push reckless and irresponsible policies forward.”

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Extreme Winter Weather puts millions at risk of power outages and it’s not just a North East problem

Winter-Power-Outage

Important Takeaways:

  • Nation at risk of winter blackouts as power grid remains under strain
  • A sweeping portion of the country that extends from Texas to the Canadian border is not adequately equipped for tough winter conditions, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation warned in a forecast released Wednesday. The report is a sobering assessment of a power grid that continues to fray and suffer from underinvestment, despite promises by politicians and regulators to shore it up following deadly blackouts in recent years
  • “Much of North America is at an elevated risk of insufficient energy supplies this winter and is highly exposed to risks of energy emergencies in extreme winter conditions,” the regulator, known as NERC, wrote in a statement that accompanied the report.
  • A major concern is the potential for disruptions in natural gas generation, as power plants and the infrastructure that delivers fuel to them are destabilized by the strain of extreme cold. It is the pattern that played out last year during Winter Storm Elliott, which resulted in cascading outages throughout the eastern United States just before Christmas.
  • The regional grid that serves 15 states from Arkansas to Wyoming will be operating with significantly lower backup energy reserves than last year as a result of some power plants coming off line and demand for electricity in the region increasing. NERC warned that while the region has the resources it needs to make it through a normal winter, extreme cold weather could “result in shortfalls that can trigger energy emergencies.”
  • The rapid addition of renewable energy onto the grid presents its own challenges, the report warns, which could inflame debate about the extent to which the energy transition disrupts reliability. NERC officials noted, for example, that the installation of large volumes of new solar power in Texas will do little to help the state through the winter, as demand tends to peak after sundown. But NERC’s findings make clear that problems with fossil fuel generation bear a large share of responsibility for the wobbly state of the nation’s electricity system.

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Britain fears Blackouts during a Colder Winter

Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’

Important Takeaways:

  • Britain braces for blackouts as Met Office warns of much COLDER winter: National Grid chief insists ‘it’s not time to panic’ but admits ‘rolling power cuts ARE a possibility’ if energy supplies run low
  • John Pettigrew, the boss of National Grid, warned blackouts were a possibility
  • But he said its ‘base case’ was that the UK would have enough energy this winter
  • It comes as the Met Office has now released its three-month long-term forecast
  • The forecast shows a higher than usual chance of a colder-than-average winter
  • The UK is already looking at delaying the closure of part of a coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire due to fears about energy.
  • Experts fear Russia ‘is plotting to sabotage Norway-UK pipeline’ in a move that could leave households freezing this winter

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New England Risks Winter Blackouts as Gas Supplies Tighten

New England power producers are preparing for potential strain on the grid this winter as a surge in natural-gas demand abroad threatens to reduce supplies they need to generate electricity.

New England, which relies on natural-gas imports to bridge winter supply gaps, is now competing with European countries for shipments of liquefied natural gas, following Russia’s halt of most pipeline gas to the continent. Severe cold spells in the Northeast could reduce the amount of gas available to generate electricity as more of it is burned to heat homes.

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Winter is coming EU prepares for worst case Energy Crisis

Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’

Important Takeaways:

  • EU could face blackouts this winter, crisis commissioner warns
  • The European Union could face blackouts this winter as the continent faces an ongoing energy crisis amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Brussels is preparing for worst-case scenarios, according to EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič.

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Heatwave and Blackouts

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • California facing chance of blackouts amid brutal heat wave
  • The electrical load could top 51,000 megawatts, the highest demand the state has ever seen
  • California is facing its highest chance of blackouts this year as a brutal heat wave continues to blanket the state with triple-digit temperature
  • As well as danger of wildfires was extreme as scorching heat and low humidity turned brush to tinder. Four deaths were reported over the Labor Day weekend as some 4,400 firefighters battled 14 large fires around the state, with 45 new blazes on Sunday alone

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Green Energy push leaving the US Power Grid vulnerable

  • Rush toward green energy has left US ‘incredibly’ vulnerable to summer blackouts, expert warns
  • At issue are blackouts that could become widespread across the country this summer as grid operators struggle to meet the increased demand, a problem that has plagued some states for years but now could threaten much of the country.
  • The potential outages come as many states have moved to quickly take plants that produce traditional sources of energy such as coal and natural gas offline and switch production over to renewable energy sources, which currently do not have the capacity to keep up with the demand of a hot summer.
  • Regulators in Illinois have warned of controlled outages that could occur this summer
  • Grid operators in Michigan have also been bracing for the possibility of blackouts this summer
  • Texas, California, New Mexico, New York, all of New England. These are areas whose policies and political decisions have weakened their electric grid.”

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Experts warn Power Grid is under strain “reliability is going to be difficult

Important Takeaways:

  • Vast swath of U.S. at risk of summer blackouts, regulator warns
  • A vast swath of North America from the Great Lakes to the West Coast is at risk of blackouts this summer as heat, drought, shuttered power plants and supply-chain woes strain the electric grid.
  • A historic drought is covering the western US, limiting supplies of hydroelectric power, and forecasts call for a hotter-than-average summer. But the fight against global warming poses its own risks as older coal-fired plants close faster than wind farms, solar facilities and batteries can replace them.
  • “The pace of our grid transformation is out of sync” with the physical realities of the existing power network, Moura said.
  • Supply-chain snags, meanwhile, are delaying Southwest solar projects and Texas transmission lines, while coal plants are having trouble obtaining fuel amid increased exports. And power grids face a growing threat of cyberattacks because of US support for Ukraine following the Russian invasion, according to NERC.
  • California’s grid operators, in contrast, have warned that the state faces a risk of blackouts during the next three summers as the state shifts to cleaner energy.
  • “We know that reliability is going to be difficult in this time of transition,” said Alice Reynolds, president of the California Public Utilities Commission

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Life grinds to a halt in Lebanon’s blackouts

By Nafisa Eltahir and Issam Abdallah

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s worsening fuel crisis has reached a painful crunch point, with bakeries, businesses and hospitals either scaling back operations or shutting down completely, making life even harder for Lebanese already enduring a financial meltdown.

As the fuel oil that powers Lebanon has disappeared from the market, Lebanese have sweltered at home in the summer heat without light or AC, routinely tossing out the contents of fridges while having to set aside hours to fill up the car – if increasingly scarce gasoline can be found.

Many say living conditions are worse than during the 1975-90 civil war.

It marks a new low in the financial crisis that erupted in late 2019, the result of decades of corruption and mismanagement by a ruling elite that has failed to find solutions as more than half the population has sunk into poverty.

In the latest policy failure, the government is sparring with the central bank over its decision to end fuel subsidies, a step that would spell sharply higher prices.

While the stand-off continues, importers told Reuters the country faced a huge shortage of fuel.

“During the civil war, even with how horrible it was, there weren’t any power cuts,” said Hassan Khalife, 50, who owns a small barbecue joint near parliament in Beirut.

“The state, which is supposed to take care of its people, is doing the opposite, it’s trying to humiliate us as much as it can,” he said.

Khalife has downgraded from three refrigerators to one, which he powers via a line from a neighbor’s generator that whirrs loudly across the street. “We’ve become used to the sound, it’s like hearing birds or something,” he said.

On Wednesday, Lebanon’s electricity minister told reporters that the country needs 3,000 megawatts of power but only has enough fuel to produce 750. People say they get one or two hours of electricity from the grid per day, if any.

BLACK MARKET

The shortage of fuel, known as mazout, means people can’t run their own generators to fill the gap.

“In the last three days I can’t find mazout at all, neither black market nor white,” says Metri Flouti, who manages generators for buildings in the upscale Ashrafieh neighborhood, and is forced by the heat at home to sleep in his air conditioned office.

Key businesses are having the same problem.

Ali Ibrahim, head of the bakeries union, said some bakeries had been forced to pause this week. “This is people’s food, you can’t play around with it,” he said.

“Hospitals are going day by day, very few have enough for 2 or 3 days,” said Suleiman Haroun, head of the private hospitals union, adding that medical supplies were low and staff lacked petrol to get to work.

Souad Akl, general manager of Alfa Laboratories which produces saline solution and other medical essentials, told Reuters her factory shut down for the first time in almost 50 years this week.

In a city known for its nightlife, Beirut’s downtown and corniche are plunged into darkness, but still draw some escaping the heat at home. “I feel my home is dark, and it gives you depression,” said homemaker Manar Yassine.

She has emptied her fridge and waits to do laundry in the precious hour of electricity from the grid, trying to cut back on generator costs.

Her husband’s once comfortable salary now only covers their generator subscription, internet, and satellite TV. “I look at my kids, and their futures,” she said. “If someone gave us the means to emigrate, of course we would.”

(Additional reporting by Imad Creidi, Writing by Nafisa Eltahir, editing by Tom Perry and Giles Elgood)

Venezuelans seek home care for COVID-19 amid crumbling health system

By Efrain Otero and Vivian Sequera

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan COVID-19 patients are paying doctors to come to their homes due to the high cost of private clinics and hospitals overflowing with patients and often lacking oxygen and medicine, doctors interviewed by Reuters said in recent weeks.

Family members tend to chip in or launch crowdfunding campaigns for infected relatives, said Laura Martinez, a 55-year-old resident of the lower middle-class Las Acacias neighborhood in western Caracas, whose husband and elderly parents were treated at home. Patients who receive home treatment for the coronavirus generally purchase respirators, oxygen tanks and anti-viral drugs.

President Nicolas Maduro’s government has said that the country, whose economy is mired in a brutal recession marked by hyperinflation, is experiencing a second wave of the virus. Official data have recorded around 1,000 new cases per day in recent weeks, though many health professionals warn the true toll is likely higher.

As the new wave gathered steam throughout March and April, home care, gained popularity thanks to word of mouth and social media. Such treatment often includes house calls, an option seen as a luxury in many developed countries but rendered cheap in Venezuela by a surfeit of underpaid doctors. Home visits cost $40-$80, depending on the severity of the patient’s symptoms, doctors said.

“It is the economic factor – without a doubt it is much cheaper for a doctor to visit one’s home,” Leonardo Acosta, a 25-year-old doctor, told Reuters in mid-April after a home visit in the capital Caracas.

“The cost of just being admitted to a clinic’s emergency ward is very high.”

Venezuela’s public hospitals frequently suffer from blackouts and routinely lack running water, according to medical associations who stage frequent protests over the inadequate conditions of the public health system.

Private clinics are better equipped but charge at least $1,500-$2,500 per night for inpatient care and as much as $5,000 per night for emergency care to treat acute respiratory problems.

That’s out of reach for the vast majority in a country where monthly minimum wage has not topped $5 in several years.

The information ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Patients are able to receive treatment at home as long as they do not require intubation, a delicate process that would require them to be transported to an intensive care unit, Acosta said.

For doctors, performing home visits means getting paid in U.S. dollars and making substantially more than they would in the public health system.

“I’m doing this in part for economic reasons,” said Carlos Hernandez, a 25-year-old doctor who like Acosta recently graduated from the Central University of Venezuela. He is also working in the public health system, as the country requires of recent graduates, but said he has not been paid in four months.

Given the country’s economic crisis, Acosta said he will often provide treatment even when the patient cannot pay in full.

“I understand the situation,” he said.

(Reporting by Efrain Otero, Vivian Sequera and Leonardo Fernandez; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)