Summer Power Blackouts and Grid Stress: Exploring A Realistic Solution

A three-figure temperature on your Weather App is ubiquitous during the summer seasons in the US. This morning, a newsletter in my inbox read, “NY to see higher temperatures than Texas next week,” which took me by surprise. Facing the wrath of the heat, only to find yourself at the mercy of Mother Nature and tanned with an unwanted sunburn, might encourage most people to stay indoors, enjoying one of the finest pleasures known to mankind: air conditioning. This basic human necessity puts a huge strain on the energy grid during the summer seasons. The opposite occurs during the winter seasons, having a similar effect on the grid. The worst example of grid failure occurred in February 2021, when the state of Texas suffered a massive energy crisis, leaving millions without power for days in freezing temperatures. Add to this the expansion of AI data centers and the crypto mines, strangling the already stressed energy grid.

The growing concern of meeting the energy demand, especially during summers, has presented a real problem for grids and utilities, leaving millions of people at the peril of scorching summer heat. BloombergNEF estimates that the use of AC has increased by 17% compared to the 1990-1999 average. According to North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), 89 million people from the three important grids spanning parts of the central US face elevated outage risks. This lack of energy supply can be partly attributed to the closure of old power plants across the US. With the Trump administration’s intent to keep coal power alive and an emergency order issued by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright requiring soon-to-be-closed coal and natural gas-fired power plants to operate for 90 more days in order to minimize blackout risks, is a temporary relief to the already stressed power grid.

While Solar and Wind Energy might seem attractive options to solve this problem, the current infrastructure is inadequate and at the whims of the air and the sun. The definition of energy infrastructure reliability is a system that has the ability to start up expediently, ramp output up or down quickly, and produce electricity at a high volume for longer periods of time. Wind and Solar energy infrastructure could be reliable only with exponential scaling, seamless grid integration, and decreasing costs in the coming decades. Given the current scenario where there is a huge backlog of renewable projects waiting in the interconnection queue, renewable energy is not the absolute solution to this problem. On the other hand, coal plants can be fired up on demand and have been able to single-handedly supply the grid for the past century. This is where coal has a realistic edge over renewable power in the present.

Energy experts argue that this might not be the most economical way forward, attributing it to the surprising rise in the costs of running a coal power plant. A report by Energy Innovation, an energy think tank, delved into the economics of running coal-fired power plants and found that coal power is 28% more expensive in 2024 than in 2021. This rising rate of coal plant costs is faster than inflation, signaling that easy access to coal is diminishing. Another reason contributing to this cost increase is the aging infrastructure of coal plants, which adds to the maintenance costs. This brings us to another realistic alternative, that is natural gas. Natural gas generates about 40% of the electricity supply in the US. Natural Gas plants can ramp up and down more quickly than coal plants, making them an ideal complement to intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Realistically, this synergy between natural gas and renewable power resources is nonexistent due to a lack of renewable infrastructure and poor grid integration. Nonetheless, natural gas is seen as a better alternative to coal with its decarbonizing potential and availability in the US.

This brings us to a seemingly realistic solution that has been implemented in the Sun Belt of the US. This solution is not based on the idea to generate more, but to store more. Batteries. In the past 12 months, about 180 large battery storage sites have been set up across the US, a 40% increase. A record-breaking event took place on an April morning in Texas, where 11% of the electricity now comes from batteries!

Battery storage shows promise and is addressing the drawbacks of renewable energy. Battery storage systems are boosting the reliability and robustness of renewable energy sources and offer an easier bridge. NERC, in its recent estimation has published surprising data citing that the odds of energy emergency this summer for Texas has dropped from 15% to 3.6% due to battery capacity. Battery storages also have the ability to pull electricity prices down by ensuring minimum energy wastage and around the clock availability. Homeowners have participated in this movement and since last year, residential storage has soared by 64% adding to the stability of grids during summers. Energy storage in the US has surged from 18 GW to 25 GW in the last year. Battery storage technologies are also getting more resilient. However, battery storage is a toddler and still has years to grow and learn. As of 2024, battery storage consisted of just 2% of US power capacity. BNEF expects this to double by next year with 18 GW of added capacity. In a briefing by Oxford’s Dr. Jan Rosenow at the Environmental Change Institute, he famously mentions “Storage is now where solar was maybe 10 years ago.”

Realistically, the growth of Battery Infrastructure may not fully materialize in the short term due to federal tariffs that might increase the costs of battery projects by 12-50%. The only solution to this is the growth of American battery factories to domestically manufacture and deploy battery storage technologies but it will certainly take more time. Nonetheless, batteries are helping keep the grids healthy and clean in the coming summer months in their current capacity.

In conclusion, the only realistic solution to the meet this extra seasonal demand is the periodic but short-term deployment of coal and natural gas fired power plants with a mix of renewables reliably connected to the grid. Energy suppliers could proactively monitor and forecast the energy surge to deploy battery storage systems to efficiently bridge the demand and supply gap and prevent a blackout. It presents itself as a game of chess where powerful pieces define the game, and pawns defend and attack when necessary.

References -

https://www.nerc.com/pa/RAPA/ra/Pages/default.aspx

https://energyinnovation.org/report/coal-power-28-percent-more-expensive-in-2024-than-in-2021/

https://www.mackinac.org/blog/2025/wind-and-solar-are-at-odds-with-growth

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2025/05/06/study-extended-interconnection-queue-times-plague-wind-solar/

https://www.siemens-energy.com/us/en/home/energy-transition/strategies/transform-conventional-power.html