As we approach the peak of one of the hottest summers yet, increasing cooling efforts are a must. However, the power grid is struggling to keep up with energy demands. Hurricane season and natural disasters paired with the heat this year could break the electric grid if proper preparation measures are not explored. Grid resilience is not a guarantee anymore, it’s a collective effort. This news roundup discusses the potential impacts of recent weather on the grid, its impact on energy prices, and the solutions that are being deployed.
How We Can Keep Cool Without Frying the Grid (Or the Planet) – RMI
The US power grid is facing another major test. After a massive heat dome settled over the US last week, temperatures pushed into the triple digits across major cities from St. Louis to Boston. In several places, especially in the Southeast and Midwest, high humidity, compounded with extreme heat, is making conditions feel even worse. Once rare, these kinds of extreme humid heat events are now routine, driving electricity demand to historic highs that test the grid just when people need cooling the most.
On June 24, the PJM Interconnection — serving 65 million people across 13 states — hit nearly 161 GW of peak demand, its highest since 2011. That spike, fueled by air conditioner (AC) use amid extreme heat and humidity, came dangerously close to exceeding system capacity. And it’s not just PJM. From Texas to North Carolina, utilities are issuing conservation warnings, and localized outages are becoming more common.
Resource adequacy: The foundation of America’s power grid reliability – Niskanen Center
The Department of Energy (DOE)’s new report, Evaluating the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid, warns that rising electricity demand could outstrip supply and spotlights a neglected pillar of reliability: resource adequacy. Produced under President Trump’s Executive Orders 14262 and 14156—which declared a national energy emergency and directed the DOE to craft reliability guidelines—the study has drawn criticism from analysts who question its near‑term blackout risk projections.
Debates aside, the report rightly notes that shifting weather patterns, electricity demand, and resource mixes requires grid operators to modernize how they assess resource adequacy. Moving forward, federal and state entities should collaborate on best‑practice standards grounded in a system‑wide understanding of grid capabilities and needs.
Heat Wave Tests Grid Resilience Across the U.S. – Governing
The high temperatures have raised alarms for utilities and grid operators from the central U.S. to the Atlantic as people turn to air conditioning. The heat has also slowed rail traffic as trains need to move carefully across heated tracks.
PJM Interconnection LLC, a grid operator that moves electricity across 13 states and the District of Columbia, issued hot weather alerts for its Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions Sunday and for its entire operating area on Monday. It also called on power plants to be ready for service and that it may curtail exports to neighboring grids if demand rises.
In addition to stressing infrastructure, people’s health is at risk. From 1979 to 2022, more than 14,000 Americans died from heat-related causes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Virtual power plants helped save the grid during heat dome – Utility Dive
As the eastern half of the United States baked under record heat late last month and electricity demand reached multi-year peaks, it looked like the grid might succumb.
Grid operators and public officials scrambled to avoid a disaster, ordering generators to defer maintenance and customers to conserve energy. The PJM Interconnection served about 161 GW of load on June 24, its highest demand since 2011 and not far off its all-time high of 165.6 GW.
But aside from scattered outages caused by heat-damaged electrical delivery equipment in parts of the New York City area, Eastern U.S. grids largely weathered the heatwave.
Explainer: How prepared are U.S. grid operators for extreme heat this summer? – Reuters
Grid operators across the U.S. are revamping their forecasting methods, introducing reforms to power markets and streamlining interconnection processes to quickly connect more energy to the grid, as a potent combination of extreme weather and data center growth elevate power demand this summer.
High temperatures and the expansion of power-hungry data centers are set to push 2025 summer power consumption to higher levels than the past four summers, federal regulators said earlier this year. Heat waves have already strained the power grid in parts of the country in recent weeks.
Renewables Soothe Grid During High Season Heatwaves – CleanTechnica
It’s also a time in which the air conditioners are blowing 24/7. Electricity demand has increased significantly during these heatwaves, and we’ve spied a whole lotta heat pumps in our travels — those clever cooling-and-warming electrical devices. In addition to providing heated air in the winter and cool air in the summer, they are far more efficient than conventional heat sources, delivering three to four times more heat per dollar spent than oil- or gas-fired heating equipment or old fashioned electric baseboard heat. They also create far less carbon pollution.
Heat pumps are just one example of how we are methodically changing the way we power our lives. In the heatwaves of late, New England’s ultra-high temps have depended on solar panels and batteries to keep folks cool — and at the same time they’re reducing fossil fuel generation and likely saving consumers on electric bills.
As Puerto Rico’s Power Grid Crumbles, Rural Medical Patients Are Turning to Rooftop Solar – The Fulcrum
Life is difficult for Puerto Ricans with chronic medical conditions. Many of these patients need electricity or Wi-Fi to operate life-sustaining machines, like Torres Sierra’s automatic dialysis machine. But the island’s energy grid is notoriously unstable and sees frequent blackouts, including two island-wide blackouts since the start of 2025. When the lights go out, it’s not just an inconvenience — for sick and elderly Puerto Ricans, especially those living in rural towns such as Adjuntas, it’s something that could put their lives at risk.
Now, community groups in Adjuntas and across the island are working to install solar panels on the rooftops of at-risk households, using private funding to cover the costs. As Puerto Rico’s privatized energy grid continues to falter, many rural residents see solar as the only way to become truly energy independent.
Readiness Initiatives at Fort Buchanan Ahead of Peak Hurricane Months – The United States Army
“Our priority at this phase is to preposition vehicles and equipment, to be ready to support the community when needed. We will also review our requirements with the installation’s Logistical Readiness Center, to ensure we have what we need to accomplish our mission,” said Dearce.
Edwidg Pedre, Army Community Service, Personal Financial Readiness Specialist, expressed the need to communicate the availability of the Army Emergency Relief program to the thousands of troops around the island.
“In the preparation phase, the Fort Buchanan commander, in coordination with Installation Command, determines the appropriate authorization to aid soldiers in Puerto Rico. In that way, we can start offering financial assistance quickly. It is important to note that the Army Emergency Relief is now online, which makes it easier for Soldiers, retirees, and survivors to apply for help. Since there is no need to access the installation in the middle of an emergency, the process will be more convenient. That is an essential element during a possible hurricane emergency,” said Pedre.
What Risks Texas’ Grid Faces – Inside Climate News
Texas’ independent electric grid has transformed in recent years with the significant addition of wind, solar and battery storage facilities, and faces new risks as large load users like data centers request to be connected.
These changes, plus increasing threats from extreme weather events and security issues, are among those risks for the reliability of Texas’ grid’s, according to a new report from Texas Reliability Entity, Inc., (Texas RE), one of the six regional entities under North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a nonprofit international regulatory authority.
Electric grid experts make alarming prediction about blackouts this summer — here’s how to prepare for the fallout – The Cool Down
During heat waves, people usually resort to bumping up their cooling efforts to counteract outdoor heat inside their homes and offices. It takes extra energy to do that, and that energy often relies on the power grid.
“Peak demand is forecast to increase across all 23 assessment areas by 10 GW — more than double the increase from 2023 to 2024,” the NERC said in a press release.
When households across the country use extra energy to cool their homes, the power grid may not be able to keep up. Rolling blackouts could be the result, meaning people would be unable to run their air conditioners or keep food cold in their refrigerators and freezers.
Hot Summer Nights Push Cooling Systems Hard Across US and Europe – Bloomberg
Warm overnight temperatures can drive energy demand higher, make humans and livestock miserable, and stress crops, said Amanda Reinhart, public program coordinator at the US National Weather Service’s Analyze, Forecast, and Support office.
“Increased energy demand can continue from daytime into nighttime and strain the power grid as air conditioners continue to run throughout the night,” Reinhart said. “Also, with higher temperatures the power lines can’t carry as much current.” — Brian K. Sullivan
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***News roundup guest post from FischTank PR interns Abby Collins and Laura Gruener***
