Every heat wave is becoming a stress test for tomorrow's electric grid.
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
A series of dangerous heat waves this summer — including one that has left 17 states under an emergency federal order — are putting the electric grid under an intense real-world stress test.
Why it matters: Successive summer heat waves are forcing utilities to rethink how they prepare the grid for longer and more frequent periods of extreme stress.
Power outages during heat waves have become more common, and they can turn deadly.
Utilities face a long-term challenge: building the grid in an increasingly fire-prone America.
As heat related power outages surge, things are expected to worsen, with AI-focused data centres sucking up power.
Extreme heat is turning electricity from a utility into an emergency infrastructure. Grid operators will have to make choices…
Power grids worldwide are struggling under intense heat waves and other extreme weather events — and in the US, outages are…
Grid operators warn the US heatwave could send electricity demand near record levels before Fourth of July weekend.
