KEY POINTS
  • Blackouts are growing more frequent in the United States.
  • Of the $12.86 billion in grid-modernization investment under consideration, regulators only approved $478.7 million during the quarter, according to the NC Clean Energy Technology Center.
  • Certain state and regional regulators often have political incentives to fight against changes to the power grid.
  • Those directly affected by grid-modernizations effort note that there are valid reasons to fight against such disruptive projects.

Blackouts are growing more frequent in the United States. The average American experienced just over eight hours of power outages in 2020, with overall duration of power interruptions in the U.S. more than doubling since 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

"This is not because the grid has changed, but because there is so much greater threat from extreme weather," said Alison Silverstein, an independent consultant at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. "And the number of extreme weather events of every kind have increased significantly over the last decade, in particular."