In an opinion piece for the Arizona Daily Star, former director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health Bob England and Advanced Energy United's Arizona state lead Michael Barrio highlight the importance of creating a regional transmission organization in the Western U.S. to strengthen and broaden the grid to better withstand extreme weather and avoid large-scale blackouts.
A study published in late May projected that if Arizona’s electric grid fails during a summer heat wave (like the one we are in right now), it could lead to more than 12,000 deaths and send nearly 800,000 Phoenix residents to the hospital for heat-related illness. And that’s just within the City of Phoenix, not counting the rest of the state. Those are astronomical numbers, and especially unsettling given that the past eight years have been the hottest on record and the next eight will likely be even hotter.
Would it really be that bad? If this summer is any indication, it could be. At least 18 people have already died in Arizona from heat exposure in 2023, even without widespread power outages. For many years, state and county public health and emergency management agencies have been planning for a worst-case scenario involving a power outage during a heatwave, but how well those plans would work depends on several factors, including how quickly power could be restored.
Our energy grid’s ability to withstand extreme heat is a matter of public health and should be treated as such. There’s more we can and should do to keep people safe and plan for the future.
Arizona leaders can work with our neighbors in the West to plan and build out a regional energy system that maximizes access to affordable, clean and reliable energy. Since extreme weather, drought and heat waves go beyond state borders, regional collaboration is critical to protecting Arizonans. We should actively engage with other states in the West to ensure we are part of the conversation and build a system that meets Arizona’s needs.
The grid of the future could work like this: When Arizona experiences a record heat wave and our energy grid is strained to keep ACs running statewide, we could import energy from the Northwest to meet our demand. And when Arizona’s solar farms are producing more energy than Arizonans need, we can send it to other states to help them alleviate energy strain and reap economic benefits for Arizona ratepayers. It’s like going to your neighbor to borrow a cup of sugar — when you’re in a pinch, there’s someone there to help you out.
Several western states are already considering a regional energy grid that would allow utilities to plan and share energy over a wider geographic footprint. And just last month, a group of western energy regulators, including Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kevin Thompson, issued a letter announcing their intent to continue exploring a regional electric grid. The Arizona Corporation Commission, the body that regulates utilities in our state and is responsible for protecting Arizona ratepayers, has an opportunity to join them.
If we don’t plan ahead, we risk the health — and lives — of hundreds of thousands of Arizonans. Just look at what happened in Texas in February 2021. The Texas energy grid is isolated from any other state. That meant that when a long stretch of extreme cold hit the state and people turned up their thermostats so much that demand exceeded supply, the state had no one to turn to for help. This go-it-alone attitude resulted in rolling blackouts in 75% of the state, leaving more than 4.5 million homes and businesses without electricity and costing hundreds of lives. If Texas had been part of a regional model, the state’s utilities could have purchased low-cost energy from a neighboring state, keeping the heat on and Texans out of the hospital.
When lives are at stake, our leaders owe it to us to focus on adopting proven solutions. Extreme weather isn’t going away — it’s going to get worse. We urge Arizona to move towards a regional grid to deliver the reliable energy our state needs while also protecting Arizonans’ health.
Let’s rely on our neighbors — and avoid this entirely avoidable health crisis.
Read the full article here.