Power grids serving more than 70 million customers warned of possible blackouts Thursday as a blistering heat wave bears down on the central US.
Temperatures in Iowa will reach 100F (38C) and parts of Texas will hit a searing 107F, with heat alerts stretching across 20 states from Minnesota to Louisiana, according to the National Weather Service. When considering the humidity, temperatures may feel close to 120F.
Electricity supplies will be tight Thursday evening as millions of people crank up air conditioners. Grid operators in the Midwest and Texas issued system-wide alerts that they may have to resort to rolling blackouts if surging demand overwhelms power generation. The vast expanse of the heat will limit their ability to import power from other grids, potentially exacerbating any shortages.
“It’s basically every grid for themselves at that point,” said Joshua Rhodes, an energy research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin.
This week’s heat wave is smashing records dating back more than a century, taxing energy grids and raising health risks in a region with a population of about 145 million. It’s the latest in a string of climate disasters, from deadly wildfires to hurricanes, that have pummeled the US in recent weeks.
Read more: Searing Heat Is Shattering Century-Old Records Across Central US
Ercot, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, has issued a watch through 9 p.m. local time for a potential capacity shortage and is calling on the public to voluntarily reduce power consumption. The grid operator serves 26 million customers in the state.
And MISO, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, issued a maximum generation emergency event notice through 10 p.m. local time, indicating that it may be close to imposing rolling blackouts. Miso serves 45 million customers in 15 states from North Dakota to Mississippi, as well as Canada’s Manitoba province.
The Midwest grid “may already be at the brink,” Rhodes said.
--With assistance from Brian K. Sullivan, Naureen S. Malik and Mark Chediak.