In response to an acute shortage of trained technicians to meet the growth in renewable energy, renewable energy companies have come together to form a
In Texas and California, blackouts highlight the challenge of balancing reliability with cost
Freezing rain icicles hang from power lines (donald gruener/
Getty Images Signature/Canva)
Over the past year, the United States has endured two major “load shedding” events in which electric system operators instructed transmission owners to reduce demand by rotating blackouts across service regions. The first event occurred in California last August, when the Western United States was gripped by an oppressive heat wave that caused a surge in electricity demand and limited power imports into the state. The second event stretched over Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana this February, as a historic cold snap froze generating units, constrained gas supplies, andpushed electric heat demand to unprecedented levels. In both cases, a carousel of blame ensued, and customers were left wondering how an entire region, or a state the size of France, could run out of electricity.