The Heat Is On — Is The Grid Ready?
Courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
By Kelsey Adkisson
As yet another heat wave shattered temperature records in the Pacific Northwest in mid-2021, threats of rolling blackouts rippled throughout the region.
These recurring extreme weather threats offer a sobering reminder that aging energy grids weren’t designed to handle the stress of climate change. Nor were they designed to withstand the energy impact from extreme events like heat waves, droughts, or wildfires, which are predicted to become more frequent and intense, according to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL’s) Nathalie Voisin, a PNNL Earth scientist who is part of a team working on grid resilience in relation to climate change.
“Even under modest climate change projections, threats of power shortfalls will become more common,” said Voisin.
In the Pacific Northwest, which is dependent on hydropower to help generate electricity, more frequent heat waves, water scarcity, and increased wildfire risk put increased pressure on an overburdened power grid. Currently, over 90% of the western United States is facing drought conditions. One year ago, it was 40%.
To relieve some of that pressure, research teams at PNNL are focused on prevention. They are working to predict future drought scenarios and create hydropower and grid contingency plans, implement smart electricity load controls, manage forests to reduce the impact of wildfire, and place new grid infrastructure, like energy storage or microgrids, where they are needed most.
“When we’re talking about power shortfalls, even small steps add up. Shifting large appliance use, like a high amount of dishwashers or washing machines, from afternoon and evening peak hours to the morning or the night, or increasing thermostats a couple degrees in the summer and using ceiling or floor fans can make a difference,” said PNNL’s Dhruv Bhatnagar, an energy systems engineer.
What high temperatures mean for hydropower
The early summer heat wave of 2021 led to a spike in energy demand that left hydroelectric dam operators with a difficult choice: (1) use water to keep up with the surge, leaving less water for late summer, or (2) buy energy on the open market, often at higher prices and from natural gas.
PNNL modelers like Voisin are working to predict these types of events and the impacts to generation and load, including short-term issues like heat waves or longer-term issues like droughts via efforts like the Department of Energy’s HydroWIRES initiative.
PNNL researchers are using advanced modeling to predict droughts and provide grid operators with information for decisions on how to allocate power during extreme events. For instance, to simulate the impact of climate change on the future power grid, researchers used a computer model called GENESYS. Recent results showed that power systems will be affected by multiple stressors simultaneously, and these impacts compound and aren’t just additive.
PNNL is developing drought scenarios to help operators and regulatory agencies with future planning. This includes predicting future drought conditions and the impacts on hydropower and thermoelectric plants, which can then be used to understand the potential impact on grid operations and guide adaptation.
“This information is used to help operators make risk-informed decisions and determine where vulnerabilities may lie. Ultimately, it will help answer the question—given different stressors, will there be enough power to meet the demand and other power grid needs?” said Voisin.
“Will there be enough power to meet the demand?” — Nathalie Voisin, PNNL Earth scientist
Recently, Voisin and her team evaluated how hydropower operations vary seasonally and annually depending on water availability for the Chelan Public Utility District. For example, they demonstrated that even during a dry summer, when hydropower’s overall generation is limited by low water availability, hydropower maintains its flexibility to support the peak load under extreme events. This highlights the need to better consider the range of services that hydropower can provide to address the resilience of the grid under extreme events.
Wildfire and hydropower
During an above-normal fire season, like what is currently occurring in California, there will likely be impacts on the grid, either through intentional shutoffs to reduce fire risk or loss of infrastructure due to the fire itself.
“The idea is not to stop all wildfires but to work in advance to reduce their risk, and predict areas that are more prone to them,” said PNNL’s Mark Wigmosta, a PNNL environmental engineer. Wigmosta’s work focuses on forest thinning and restoration with the goal of less fuel for fires.
“The idea is not to stop all wildfires but to work in advance to reduce their risk” — Mark Wigmosta, PNNL environmental engineer
Reducing fuel load in highly dense forests may leave more water in streams and can lead to higher, longer-lasting snowpack. This may produce more water throughout the summer dry season.
“This may provide a way to get more water into the system, depending on location,” said Wigmosta. Another grid benefit is that weaker fires are likely to burn less energy infrastructure. For example, between 2000 and 2016, wildfires caused at least $700 million in damages to 40 transmission lines in California. Nationwide costs from wildfires are significantly higher.
After fires burn, there is typically an increase in runoff and sedimentation. Sediment flows downstream, builds up in reservoirs, and “isn’t great for infrastructure, including turbines,” said Wigmosta. Prescribed burns or tree thinning can actually increase flow volumes and improve hydropower operations. And, weaker fires will have less of a negative impact on infrastructure and the grid.
Better technology from buildings to batteries
During peak power demands, like a heat wave, emerging technology offers the potential for consumers to manage or supplement loads. Smart tools, like intelligent load control, automatically manage building energy use during peak electricity demands. PNNL has been working on ways to make buildings more energy efficient, in addition to optimizing the future of hydropower.
Backup or autonomous power sources also offer promise, particularly during emergency situations. Microgrids are self-contained grids that can power key areas, such as hospitals or police stations, during power shortfalls that could occur during extreme events like a wildfire or hurricane. PNNL’s Microgrid Component Optimization for Resilience tool helps streamline the design process for microgrids with the goal of simulating power under a variety of outage conditions.
PNNL is also taking a leadership role in developing new technologies for grid-scale energy storage, which includes a new generation of battery materials and systems and other forms of energy storage. For example, current grid-scale energy storage systems such as pumped storage hydropower use pumps to move water uphill to store renewable energy when demand is low and generate power when demands are high as water flows downhill. PNNL has been working on incremental steps with pumped storage, such as evaluating environmental impacts of newer systems, to enhance future grid resilience or working with international stakeholders to identify strategies to finance and develop new projects. Even concepts like pairing batteries with hydropower are being explored to enhance hydropower’s capabilities and assure reliability during power shortages while reducing environmental impacts.
“Ultimately, we want to prepare for extreme events. Whether it’s through technological innovation, enhancing grid resilience, or supporting long-term planning. We take a holistic approach to tackling these big, long-term challenges to support risk-informed decision-making,” said Voisin.
This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Office of Electricity, among other agencies.
Appreciate CleanTechnica’s originality? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica Member, Supporter, Technician, or Ambassador — or a patron on Patreon.
Lucid’s electric minivan can outsprint the Chevy Corvette Z06, and it has more interior space than a Ford Explorer. Is the Lucid Gravity really the “ultimate uncompromising SUV?”
Lucid Gravity SUV is faster than a Corvette Z06
Lucid’s electric SUV is impressive inside and out. The Gravity provides up to 450 miles of driving range, ultra-fast charging (200 miles in under 11 mins), and it even offers up to 120 cubic feet of cargo space. That’s more than the Ford Explorer (87.8 cu ft).
It’s also faster than most sports cars. The Grand Touring trim has up to 845 hp, good for a 0 to 60 mph sprint in just 3.4 seconds, but the Dream Edition takes it to another level.
Powered by dual electric motors, the Lucid Gravity Dream Edition boasts 1,070 hp. To see how Lucid’s minivan stacks up against the competition, Car and Driver nabbed one for testing.
On the test track, the Lucid’s minivan covered a quarter-mile in just 10.6 secs, beating a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 to 150 mph by nearly three seconds.
According to Car and Driver, the Gravity didn’t just impress in the quarter-mile, “it was a beast in every acceleration metric.” Lucid’s SUV hit 30 mph in 1.4 seconds, 70 mph in 3.7 secs, and topped 100 mph in just 5.9 seconds.
Dave Vanderwerp, the testing director who took the Gravity for a spin, said the electric SUV “gets a sort of second wave of thrust starting around 60 mph.”
With a quarter-mile of just 10.6 secs, Lucid’s Gravity is the fastest SUV they have ever tested, beating out the Rivian Tri-Motor Max (11.1 secs), BMW iX M60 (11.5 secs), and Mercedes-AMG EQE53 SUV.
Although the Rivian’s 850 hp R1S Tri-Motor beat the Gravity to 60 mph, Lucid’s SUV sprinted ahead in the quarter-mile, traveling nearly 20 mph faster.
It was also faster than gas-powered super SUVs, including the Lamborghini Urus Performante (11.2 secs) and Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT (11.2 secs). However, they have yet to test a Tesla Model X Plaid, so that could change the game.
In what it called the “1,000 hp mom missiles” drag race, Hagerty recently pitted the Gravity Dream Edition against the Audi RS Q8 Performance, Range Rover Sport SV, Porsche Macan Turbo Electric, Rivian R1S Quad, and Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.
The result was a three-way tie between Lucid’s Gravity, the Porsche Panamera Turbo, and Rivian R1S Quad hitting the quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds.
The Lucid Gravity is available to order starting at $94,900 in the US. Later this year, Lucid is launching the lower-priced Touring trim, priced from $79,900.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Solar provided over 11% of total US electrical generation in May, while wind + solar produced over one-fifth, and the mix of all renewable energy sources generated nearly 30%, according to data just released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Solar continues to set new records
Solar continues to be the fastest-growing source of US electricity, according to EIA’s latest “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through May 31, 2025), which the SUN DAY Campaign reviewed.
In May alone, electrical generation by utility-scale solar (>1-megawatt (MW)) increased by 33.3% year-over-year, while “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar PV increased by 8.9%. Combined, they grew by 26.4% and provided over 11% of US electrical output during the month.
For the first time ever, the mix of utility-scale and small-scale solar produced more electricity than wind: solar – 38,965 gigawatt-hours (GWh); wind – 36,907-GWh.
Moreover, utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 39.8% while that from small-scale systems rose by 10.7% during the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The combination of utility-scale and small-scale solar increased by 31.1% and was nearly 8.4% of total US electrical generation for January to May – up from 6.6% a year earlier.
Solar-generated electricity easily surpassed the output of US hydropower plants (6.1%). Solar now produces more electricity than hydropower, biomass, and geothermal combined.
Wind is also on the rise in 2025
Wind produced 12.2% of US electricity in the first five months of 2025. Its output was 3.9% greater than the year before, almost double that produced by hydropower.
During the first five months of 2025, electrical generation by wind + utility-scale and small-scale solar provided 20.5% of the US total, up from 18.7% during the first five months of 2024. Solar + wind accounted for nearly 21.5% of US electrical output in May alone.
During the first five months of this year, wind and solar provided 26.2% more electricity than coal, and 15.4% more than US nuclear power plants. In May alone, the disparity increased further when solar + wind outproduced coal and nuclear power by 55.7% and 22.1%, respectively.
All renewables produced almost 30% in May
The mix of all renewables – wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, geothermal – produced 9.7% more electricity in January to May than they did a year ago (7.6% more in May alone) and provided 28.1% of total US electricity production compared to 26.5% 12 months earlier.
Electrical generation by all renewables in May alone provided 29.7% of total US electrical generation. Renewables’ share of electrical generation is now second only to that of natural gas, whose electrical output actually dropped by 5.9% during the month.
“Solar and wind continue to grow, set new records, and outproduce both coal and nuclear power,” said Ken Bossong, the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director. “Consequently, the ongoing Republican assault against renewables is not only misguided and illogical but also a good example of shooting oneself in the foot.”
Read more: FERC: Solar + wind made up 96% of new US power generating capacity in first third of 2025
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
Podcast: Tesla’s disturbing earnings, self-driving challenge, solid state batteries, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Tesla’s disturbing earnings, a new self-driving challenge, solid-state batteries, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike