Facing a sizzling summer, large parts of the U.S. risk blackouts, government agency warns
CBSN
With the Eastern U.S. already facing a possible heat wave this weekend, the nation's power grid regulator has a dire warning: Large swaths of the country are at risk of blackouts this summer as climbing temperatures cause surging demand for energy.
In its annual summer assessment released this week, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation noted that the Upper Midwest is facing a capacity shortfall leading to a "high risk of energy emergencies." The entire Western U.S. also could face a power outage emergency in the event of spikes in energy use.
"We've been doing this for close to 30 years. This is probably one of the grimmest pictures we've painted in a while," John Moura, NERC's director of reliability assessment and performance analysis, told CBS MoneyWatch.
