Alexandra “Sascha” von Meier, director of the California Institute for Energy and Environment electric grid program area, discussed the impacts of climate change on America’s outdated power grids in a recent article by the Associated Press.
“The electric grid is our early warning,” she said. “Climate change is here and we’re feeling real effects.”
Power grid maintenance expenses are skyrocketing as utilities upgrade decades-old transmission lines and equipment. And that means customers who are hit with more frequent and longer weather outages also are paying more for electricity.
Photo Credit: Matt Slocum / AP Photo. Power lines knocked down by Hurricane Ida lean precariously over a road.