Extreme weather is causing more power outages across US

The rate in which power outages are reported across the nation has grown over the past decade as extreme-weather events occur more frequently, Bloomberg reports. 

An analysis published last month by the nonprofit research group Climate Central found that between 2014 and 2023, the U.S. experienced twice as many weather-related power outages as it had during the prior decade. Nationwide, some 80% of power outages that affected at least 50,000 people were driven by weather, according to the report.

Examples of weather-related outages are everywhere, Bloomberg writes. In 2021, 4.5 million Texas residents went without electricity—some up to four days—as temperatures dropped below freezing. That same year, hundreds of thousands of Louisiana residents were left without power—as the heat index exceeded 100—after Hurricane Ida. Ida also cut power to tens of thousands in New Jersey.

The uptick in power outages is coming as the U.S. embarks on an energy transition that, in the interest of slashing greenhouse gas emissions, will make people even more reliant on electricity. Read the full story from Bloomberg. A subscription may be required.