Opinion: We need more renewables and a nimble grid to avoid summer blackouts

Setting a reasonable path to transition off coal in the next 10 years just makes economic sense.

Katie Rock
Guest columnist
  • Katie Rock is campaign representative in Iowa for Sierra Club Beyond Coal.

Regulators have warned the public of the possibility of rolling blackouts this summer across the country, and especially in the Midwest. Extreme weather and high gas prices are showing us yet again that we needed a comprehensive shift to a clean, reliable energy system a decade ago. Utilities should keep us healthy, safe, and not worsen the climate crisis. Instead, utilities across the country have doubled down on volatile fossil fuel markets, dragging their feet and outright resisting investments that would make our energy more distributed, efficient, and resilient. 

Those whose pockets are lined with fossil fuel money have tried to blame renewable energy for recent grid reliability problems, but those claims don’t pass the smell test. During the Texas winter storm that caused massive gas price spikes last winter, the majority of outages were from gas and coal plants, not renewables. Just last month, six gas power plant facilities on the Texas grid fell offline due to “unseasonably hot weather” and high power demand. Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, gas prices have risen to levels not seen since 2008, showing how continued overreliance on fossil fuels undermines national security. Meanwhile, these plants are burning the very fuel that is causing our weather to become more and more extreme. Claiming fossil fuels are needed to ensure reliability is akin to advising someone with asthma to smoke more. Fossil fuels are risky and expensive, plus their failures are costing people’s lives.

More:Iowans warned they may see rolling blackouts this summer as NOAA predicts above-average temperatures

At the same time, setting a reasonable path to transition off coal in the next 10 years just makes economic sense. Coal plants are closing around the country because they are uneconomic. We should not hang onto outdated, polluting, money-losing coal plants. An independent economic analysis that a group I represent, Sierra Group, and others filed at the Iowa Utilities Board last winter showed MidAmerican would save customers between $1.2 and $5 billion by retiring its coal fleet and replacing any needed capacity with clean energy by 2030.  

Climate activists, Indigenous leaders, and community members march to the downtown offices of MidAmerican Energy to demand an end to coal fired power plants in Iowa, Friday, April 22, 2022.

We need more clean energy, not less, to address reliability issues. Our regional grid, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, is planning a massive buildout of transmission this decade that will unlock the Midwest’s massive renewables’ potential. MISO is also working to streamline a large backlog of renewable energy projects currently in the queue to speed up deployment and installation.

Iowa should balance its electrical grid by adding more solar to its best-in-class wind energy. Wind power often performs best at night and in the winter, while solar power generates during the day and in the summer, making it the perfect complement to wind. Iowa lags behind its Midwestern peers in developing solar power. President Joe Biden’s recent moves to invoke the federal government’s powers to boost U.S. manufacturing of solar energy components should help get delayed projects back on track. 

Another essential part of the grid of the future will be distributed clean energy such as local rooftop solar, community-scale solar, battery storage, and microgrids. Projects like these could help prevent rolling blackouts that have affected millions of people across the U.S, while substantially reducing the overall cost of electricity. We can start by adding on-site solar and storage to our most vital community spaces — hospitals, schools, and essential businesses — to offer support and shelter for times of crisis, and savings to boot.

Iowa should also be investing more in energy efficiency and demand response technologies to lower moments of high demand. In 2018, MidAmerican lobbied the Iowa Legislature to pass a bill making massive cuts to its energy efficiency programs — because when Iowans use less energy, MidAmerican makes less money. Since that bill passed, working families are getting less help to weatherize their homes to keep them warm in the winter and cool in the summer, all while reducing pressure on the grid during extreme weather conditions. MidAmerican Energy reported kilowatt-hour savings for 2020 that were 64% lower than what the utility achieved the year before the law took effect. Now, MidAmerican customers are paying twice as much to keep warm and 61,000 Iowan families have been forced to apply for utility assistance because they can’t pay their bills.

Our current situation may be new, but the solutions are not. More wind power and solar power, coupled with storage, energy efficiency and grid updates, are what we need to meet this moment. It’s time to hold MidAmerican accountable for its self-interested decisions. Iowans are paying too high of a price. 

Katie Rock

Katie Rock is campaign representative in Iowa for Sierra Club Beyond Coal.