The nation's electric grid is becoming less reliable as its sources change; see where your state gets its power

Power production by source, by state. (Wall Street Journal map; click the image to enlarge it.)

Age and climate change are driving the nation's power grid to become less reliable even as Americans become more dependent on it in an increasingly digital world.

"Large, sustained outages have occurred with increasing frequency in the U.S. over the past two decades, according to a Wall Street Journal review of federal data. In 2000, there were fewer than two dozen major disruptions, the data shows. In 2020, the number surpassed 180," Katherine Blunt reports for The Wall Street Journal. "Utility customers on average experienced just over eight hours of power interruptions in 2020, more than double the amount in 2013, when the government began tracking outage lengths. The data doesn’t include 2021, but those numbers are certain to follow the trend after a freak freeze in Texas, a major hurricane in New Orleans, wildfires in California and a heat wave in the Pacific Northwest left millions in the dark for days."

Meanwhile, "the grid is undergoing the largest transformation in its history. In many parts of the U.S., utilities are no longer the dominant producers of electricity following the creation of a patchwork of regional wholesale markets in which suppliers compete to build power plants and sell their output at the lowest price," Blunt reports. "Within the past decade, natural gas-fired plants began displacing pricier coal-fired and nuclear generators as fracking unlocked cheap gas supplies. Since then, wind and solar technologies have become increasingly cost-competitive and now rival coal, nuclear and, in some places, gas-fired plants."

Some experts worry that the transition could cause old power plants to "retire more quickly than they can be replaced, creating new strain on the grid at a time when other factors are converging to weaken it," Blunt reports.

Aging power lines are also a concern, with 70% nearing their expected 50-year lifespan, according to a 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers report. "Utilities across the country are ramping up spending on line maintenance and upgrades. Still, the ASCE report anticipates that by 2029, the U.S. will face a gap of about $200 billion in funding to strengthen the grid and meet renewable energy goals," Blunt reports.