For many Americans, green could turn to black this summer. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has released its 2023 summer energy reliability assessment, predicting two-thirds of North America faces increased risk of blackouts during extreme weather this summer. The report specifically cites overreliance on green energy sources such as wind and solar. "The system is closer to the edge," is how NERC's director summed up the risk.
Many energy experts have already predicted this exact scenario. "Not surprised at all by this," says David Holt, president of the Consumer Energy Alliance. "It's great to use wind and solar, but people need to understand that when the sun isn't shining and the wind's not blowing, those power sources become intermittent and less reliable."
Holt and other leaders in the energy industry have long called for an "all of the above" strategy over the left's unrealistic push to end fossil fuels and replace them with 'green' sources. "We have to have good power that's always available, which would be natural gas, nuclear, and in many cases now, clean coal," says Holt. "What we need is energy choice...every available energy resource should be used to its maximum opportunity."
Instead, the Biden administration is shutting down power plants, or placing onerous regulations on them that will force them to shut down. On top of that, the administration is also pushing a massive expansion of electric vehicles, which will only put more strain and demand on the grid. "Our political leaders aren't even considering these issues," says Holt. "They're just making really misguided political decisions which harm families and businesses."
"It's beyond me how some political leaders in this country continue to say we've got to ban fossil energy...that's just not true," he continues. "Folks need to start standing up and saying we need affordable, reliable energy that also meets our environmental goals...and we can absolutely do that."