According to a recent study, blackouts caused by extreme weather have more than quadrupled in the previous six years, with the number of blackouts in the Pacific Northwest this summer serving as an example.
Brian Stone, a professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, stated that the study's team of researchers could model how a heat wave in Atlanta, Detroit, and Phoenix would affect temperatures both inside and outside structures.
Rising Number of Blackouts
They discovered that the number of blackout occurrences lasting at least one hour and affecting at least 50,000 utility customers in the United States rose by more than 60% during the preceding five-year reporting period.
According to Stone, the researchers also discovered "temperature thresholds that were consistent with either heat exhaustion or heatstroke for 70% or more of the population in each location," according to Stone.
"Not only are blackouts on the rise, but they're on the rise much faster during the summer," according to Stone. He said that this is due to a combination of factors, including the existence of hurricane season and more storms and increased demand on the electrical system in the United States throughout the summer months.
"We're more likely to suffer blackouts when we need air conditioning the most," he added.
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Limited Number of Cooling Centers and Backup Generators
Another result of the research was that each city had a limited number of cooling centers and a scarcity of backup generators for the cooling centers that did exist.
"If there isn't a standard that demands it, our cooling facilities usually don't have backup power generation," Stone added. "So you wouldn't even have cooling centers amid a blackout and a heatwave."
Raising Awareness
The study's objective was to raise awareness about the rise in heat-related blackouts and to advocate for local and national changes to improve heat protection, such as national grid resilience requirements.
"We need grid resilience standards on a national level...because there will be blackouts." We're going to witness an increase in severe storm activity. We know there's already a lot of storm activity going on."
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