Climate Change May Threaten Power Delivery

Climate change may overload US electrical grid: study

February 6, 2017 (PhysOrg)

“As the planet warms due to climate change and hot days become more common, the US electrical grid could be unable to meet peak energy needs by century's end…The cost to upgrade the US electrical grid so it could cope with peak demands may be on the order of $180 billion, said [Climate change is projected to have severe impacts on the frequency and intensity of peak electricity demand across the United States from Arizona State University. The current study looks at] the effect of ever-more frequent and intense heat when it comes to peak electricity demand, or the maximum amount of electricity a given area would need at one time…These jumps in peak electricity demands…may require substantial investments by US electricity grids into peak electricity generating capacity…Much of the costs to upgrade the grid would involve capacity, storage and transmission investments—not simply the cost of generating electricity…If the world continues to burn fossil fuels at the current rate, without any major effort to mitigate the damage caused by greenhouse gases, the United States' peak electrical needs could rise by as much as 18 percent…” click here for more

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