Get Ready for the Blackouts

Mismanagement and the push for renewables are degrading the reliability of the U.S. electrical grid.  Generac Power Systems, a company that produces home generators and other equipment, announced in July record sales of $920 million during the second quarter, a 68% jump over last year. But what’s good for Generac is bad for America. That’s no slam on the Wisconsin-based company, which manufactures about three-quarters of the home standby generators sold in the U.S. Instead, Generac’s soaring sales are evidence that the U.S. electric grid is becoming less reliable, which will make Americans less wealthy and less secure. Consumers are spending billions of dollars on generators to have on hand when the power goes out.  Blackouts are deadly and create costly drags on the economy. Bad policies and lack of oversight contributed to the February blackouts in Texas. The final tally: about $200 billion in damage and some 700 people dead from hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning and other causes. In California—a state that is hemorrhaging residents—blackouts have become a near-daily event. Generac says in a recent investor presentation that power outage severity is “increasing significantly.” Between 2000 and 2020, the number of what the Energy Department calls “major electric disturbances and unusual occurrences” jumped 13-fold…. (Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal)