An unavoidable problem the left continues to run headlong into is that many of their radical policies, if not most, simply do not work.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in their Green Energy initiatives that rely on renewable energy over fossil fuels — not understanding that if the former proved to be an effective and cheap alternative, the free market would accomplish in a matter of months what they have been trying and failing to achieve for decades.
The latest example of this can be seen in Michigan, where electrical-grid operators are citing a hurried changeover to renewable energy sources to warn residents that blackouts could be needed during the hot summer months ahead, Fox News reported.
Joe Trotter, the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force Director for the American Legislative Exchange Council, spoke to the network about the consequences of the rush.
“Our leaders need to be real cognizant of the day-to-day impact,” Trotter said. “It’s great to look at the future, but the present has a huge impact on their constituencies.”
Midcontinent Independent System Operator executive director JT Smith told NPR earlier this week that a seasonal assessment found “capacity shortfalls in both the north and central regions of MISO… leaving those areas at increased risk of temporary, controlled outages to preserve the integrity of the bulk electric system.”
MISO, the operator of the electric grid that includes Michigan, projects a summer peak of 124 Gigawatts, with only 119 GW of regularly available generation, NPR noted. The company said it has never taken the step of implementing controlled outages in the state before.
Ironically, MISO also is concerned about the growing trend toward electrification of transportation and heating, according to the American Public Power Association, saying this “could transform the region’s grid from a summer-peaking to a winter-peaking system, and that uncontrolled vehicle charging and daily heating and cooling load could result in two daily power peaks in nearly all months of the year.”
Energy companies in as many as 15 states say there could be planned power outages to conserve energy, according to WNEM-TV.
The green-haven state of California is no stranger to blackouts, and they can expect more this summer. State officials said earlier this month that the state will likely have an energy shortfall equivalent to what it takes to power about 1.3 million homes when use is at its peak during the hot and dry summer months, KCRA reported.
Renewable energy sources, chiefly solar, accounted for 34.5 percent of California’s electricity in 2020, according to the NBC affiliate.
“Power shortages and increased rates are real risks going forward,” professor Severin Borenstein, a faculty director of the energy institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, told KCRA.
The news of possible blackouts comes on the heels of President Joe Biden all but celebrating skyrocketing gas prices during a press conference Monday in Tokyo, Japan — in the name of progress, of course.
“And when it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over,” the president said.
The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.56 on Monday, according to Newsweek.
“In California, gas was pricier at $6.06 per gallon,” the news outlet reported. “In some places, a gallon costs more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.”
In other words, the pain you are feeling is for your own good — something Michiganders can remind themselves of when they’re sitting in sweltering heat over the summer because there is no electricity to run air conditioning units.
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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