MISO officials said residents could face rolling blackouts this season. WPS, however, said it is ready to handle the summer heat. | Kelly L/Pexels
MISO officials said residents could face rolling blackouts this season. WPS, however, said it is ready to handle the summer heat. | Kelly L/Pexels
A Wisconsin energy grid operator is sounding the alarm to warn power companies across the state about rolling energy blackouts possibly on the horizon.
Across the country, power grids are under unprecedented stress due to retiring fossil fuel plants and extreme weather conditions, The Washington Post reported. Officials said the outages often associated with California and Texas are likely to be more prevalent with upcoming extreme temperatures.
"An energy grid operator for the first time is warning power companies of the possibility of rolling blackouts this summer," TMJ4 News reported.
Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) power grid officials said residents could face rolling blackouts this season, News 9 WAOW reported. MISO has never made a warning like this in the past. Wisconsin Public Service (WPS), however, said it is ready to handle the summer heat.
"It's never come to the point where MISO has ordered us to reduce the amount of electricity that we are delivering," WPS spokesperson Matt Cullen told News 9 WAOW.
MISO CEO John Bear also fears the worse. With MISO serving the Midwest area between North Texas and Minnesota, Bear told National Review a summer of widespread blackouts could be on the way in that region. He placed some of the blame on the Biden administrations efforts to decarbonize the country's six energy grids
The blackout warnings come at a time when energy prices are climbing dramatically across the country, National Review reported. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency that regulates the country's power grid, now projects that power prices in the Midwest could rise as much as 233% this season due to soaring gas prices and high energy demand.
The North American Electronic Reliability Corp. said Wisconsin and the Midwest are at most risk of facing energy emergencies under extreme conditions this summer, National Review reported.
President Joe Biden recently said that part of his strategy for getting the energy crisis back under control involves drastically lowering the country's dependence on fossil fuels in order to decarbonize the economy by 2050, National Review reported.
"Look into my eyes. I guarantee you we're going to end fossil fuels," Biden said during a campaign event in Newcastle, New Hampshire, in September.
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