EVs, heat pumps, chipmaking and AI use are likely to drive expansion. It won’t be the first time the power grid has dealt with rapid growth.
Regulators approved more than $9.7 billion in utility rate increases nationally last year.
The federal Energy Information Administration predicts that more than half of the new capacity added to the electric grid this year will be solar.
There’s no one-size-fits-all way to make the power infrastructure impervious to natural disasters.
The lights and the AC are on in offices and living rooms, challenging energy systems amid record temperatures.
As California accelerates EV adoption, the heat wave is a reminder that the grid powers air conditioning and other ways to deal with climate change.
“California Burning” tells how the struggle to manage aging infrastructure, climate change and the bottom line can lead to disaster.
Coal, natural gas and nuclear plants need water to make the steam that moves turbines, and as a cooling agent.
The state’s decision nearly a century ago to go it alone when it comes to electricity still has ramifications today.
A heat wave and record levels of electricity demand are straining infrastructure.
