Old North News

As North Carolina faces surging energy prices, industry experts are warning that many parts of the U.S. could face increased electricity blackouts due to sweltering temperatures this summer. 

Many blame President Joe Biden's policies, and a research fellow for energy and environmental issues at The Heritage Foundation said Biden's version of “energy independence” during an energy crisis is headed in the wrong direction.

The news of energy blackouts comes as inflation is causing electricity prices to be on the rise in North Carolina and across the country. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that the average monthly price of electricity in the residential sector of North Carolina increased 6.9% from March 2021 to March 2022. 

The EIA's latest forecast from May predicts residential electricity prices across the U.S. will increase by 3.9% between June and August compared with the same time frame last year. 

The Washington Post reported that the nation’s power grid is under stress like never before due to retiring fossil fuel plants and extreme weather. Regulators warn that the kind of rolling outages currently common in California and Texas are likely to be far more widespread across the country with the arrival of hot summer weather.

Part of the problem is Biden's efforts to phase out fossil fuel units before new batteries are available; John Bear, CEO of Midcontinent Independent System Operator, told Politico and cited by National Review. Previously, the White House also announced Biden’s long-term strategy to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050. Bear is one expert who affirms that a summer of widespread blackouts is on the rise, with the Midwest being at the highest risk.

The blackout warnings come amid skyrocketing energy prices across the country, National Review said. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the independent body that oversees the U.S. electricity grid, estimates that power prices in the Midwest region could soar by as much as 233% at the peak of summer—an increase boosted by high gas prices and high demand as temperatures rise.

Republican commissioners on the FERC, joined by some industry groups, have been arguing for a slower transition to renewable energy to ensure energy shortfalls are avoided. 

“We’re headed for a reliability crisis," Mark Christie, one of the commission's Republican members and a Trump appointee, said during FERC’s monthly meeting in May, cited by National Review. “We’re just not ready yet." 

Meanwhile, Democrats on the commission have sought to paint power transmission issues, not the energy transition, as the reason for periodic blackouts.

Katie Tubb, a research fellow for energy and environmental issues at The Heritage Foundation, said that by appropriating terms such as “independence,” “clean” and “innovation,” the Biden administration is pushing for "advancing costly policies that ultimately will eliminate conventional fuels by regulatory fiat." Tubb added that this "self-imposed energy scarcity" is exactly what Biden promised on his campaign trail in 2019.

"When Biden speaks of energy independence, he means forcing a rapid transition to renewable energy technologies and aggressively phasing out conventional fuels," she said in April.

"Look into my eyes,” Biden told a questioner during a campaign event in Newcastle, New Hampshire, in September 2021. "I guarantee you we’re going to end fossil fuels.”