My wife and I recently decided that we needed a new mattress, so we took off to Mishawaka to see what the latest trends were. The sales lady was very convincing and even talked us into buying a “smart bed frame.” Like just about everything these days, it came with several bells and whistles: It is connected to the internet, it goes up and down, it plays soothing music with white noise, and it even has a phone charger in the frame. At the time, I thought that last feature was a little over the top. Turns out, it came in handy.
Normally, I leave my phone charging in the other room while I sleep. But thanks to my new modern bed, my phone was right next to me when I got a text at 5 a.m. on Jan. 24. Utilities throughout Michigan were being told to issue a public appeal to ask customers to cut back on power use.
It caught all utilities across the area off guard. While we had been preparing for the possibility of an appeal, it didn’t seem likely to happen on a quiet Saturday morning, when it wasn’t during the normal peak energy-usage hours.
So what happened? It wasn’t that the usage was way up; it was that the wind, unexpectedly, didn’t blow. Most of Michigan’s utility-scale turbines weren’t spinning, which meant there wasn’t enough generation to keep up with the demand.
Luckily, just as we were about to email impacted customers, we got word that it wouldn’t be necessary. Our grid operator made emergency purchases from a neighboring operator. Crisis averted. But if that hadn’t worked, rolling blackouts across Michigan were a very real possibility.
That morning was a real eye-opener for me and many others. It showed us just how quickly our electric system can be pushed to the edge. More than anything, it highlighted how reliant we’ve become on weather-dependent power sources. It’s crazy to think that a few hours without wind can make the difference between having enough power or being left in the dark.
This isn’t political. It’s reality. Renewables certainly have an important role in creating a strong, diverse electric grid. Yet, our haste to close traditional power generation sources, coupled with problematic permitting for new sources, has left us with few options when demand spikes.
You may recall that I wrote about this last year, and I bring it up again because if the day comes when we do issue an appeal, I don’t want you to be surprised. We’re doing it because our regional grid operator requires utilities to do so, but more importantly, it’s likely due to a lack of “always-on” electricity sources. It’s also the last resort to avoid blackouts because, believe me, the last thing MEC wants to do is shut off your power because the grid can’t meet the demand.
This is why we will also continue to advocate for common-sense policy and permitting changes that will enable our industry to build a truly diverse, healthy fuel mix—one that includes both renewables and sources that don’t require Mother Nature’s cooperation.
I do look forward to the day when I can take this topic off my yearly list of things to write about. Until then, I’ll be keeping my phone plugged into my bed every night—because it’s going to take true policy change, not just a new mattress, to help us all sleep better.