Over roughly the last two decades, the number of weather-related power outages in the United States has increased substantially, according to a new .
鈥淢any types of extreme weather are becoming more frequent or intense because of human-caused climate change,鈥� Climate Central noted in the report. 鈥淭hese events put stress on aging energy infrastructure and are among the leading causes of major power outages in the U.S.鈥�
鈥淭he nation鈥檚 electrical grid wasn't built for the present-day climate,鈥� it continued.
The nonprofit looked at major outages 鈥� those affecting at least 50,000 customers or interrupting service of 300 megawatts or more 鈥� between 2000 and 2023. There were roughly twice as many such incidents in the last decade than the first 10 years of the analysis. The report notes outages are much more than inconveniences, and can turn deadly when AC, heating or medical equipment shuts off.
Western regions had fewer large outages. But Juan Pablo 鈥淛.P.鈥� Carvallo, who studies energy system resilience at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said that doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean it鈥檚 not a major issue in our region. For one, smaller outages aren鈥檛 captured in the data, he noted. Also, the report compares the total number of outages between states and regions with very different populations and areas.
鈥淭hat's really not a normalized metric,鈥� he said.
He suggested a number of measures to increase resiliency, like burying utility lines.
鈥淎t the community level, we can have microgrids where many customers go together, and with the right equipment, you can create small utilities that run for emergency cases,鈥� he said.
Communities can also build centers powered with batteries and solar energy where those who lose electricity can get shelter, charge devices, and stay warm or cool.
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