Power Failure

The U.S. electricity grid is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events, with the average annual cost of severe weather rising from $20 billion in the 1980s to $85 billion in the 2010s. Aging infrastructure, graded D+ by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2013, is susceptible to sea level rise, wildfires, droughts, and heat waves. The report highlights that thermal power plants are particularly at risk due to their heavy reliance on water for cooling, which can lead to production cutbacks or shutdowns when water is too warm or scarce. To improve resilience, the document recommends 'hardening' measures, such as sea walls and burying power lines, alongside the adoption of distributed renewable energy and energy efficiency to reduce overall demand and carbon emissions.

• The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. energy infrastructure a grade of D+ in 2013, noting that a large portion of the system shows significant deterioration.
• Sea level rise threatens coastal electricity infrastructure; approximately 100 electric facilities in the contiguous U.S., including substations and power plants, are located within four feet of local high tide.
• Wildfires in the western United States pose risks to the power sector not only through physical damage to poles but also via smoke and ash, which can ionize the air and cause transmission lines to shut down.
• Thermal power plants (coal, natural gas, nuclear, biomass, geothermal, and solar thermal) are highly dependent on water for cooling, making them vulnerable to droughts and high water temperatures that can force production cutbacks or shutdowns.
• Renewable energy increases resilience because it is typically smaller-scale and distributed, does not require water for production, and is less dependent on fuel supply chains vulnerable to weather disruptions.

APA

Davis, M., & Clemmer, S. (2014). Power Failure. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Power-Failure-How-Climate-Change-Puts-Our-Electricity-at-Risk-and-What-We-Can-Do.pdf

Chicago

Davis, Michelle, and Steve Clemmer. Power Failure. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Power-Failure-How-Climate-Change-Puts-Our-Electricity-at-Risk-and-What-We-Can-Do.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Davis |first1=Michelle |last2=Clemmer |first2=Steve |title=Power Failure |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=April 2014 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Power-Failure-How-Climate-Change-Puts-Our-Electricity-at-Risk-and-What-We-Can-Do.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{davis2014power, author = {Davis, Michelle and Clemmer, Steve}, title = {{Power Failure}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2014}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Power-Failure-How-Climate-Change-Puts-Our-Electricity-at-Risk-and-What-We-Can-Do.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }