What Can Go Wrong?

Indeed?:

Supply chain issues and shuttered power plants mean parts of Canada could experience widespread power outages this summer, according to an annual report by a continental grid regulator. 

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NAERC) blames droughts, closed down power plants and the growing supply chain crisis as the cause of the predicted blackouts. 

“NERC’s 2022 Summer Reliability Assessment warns that several parts of North America are at elevated or high risk of energy shortfalls this summer due to predicted above-normal temperatures and drought conditions over the western half of the United States and Canada,” the corporation’s press release stated. 

“These above-average seasonal temperatures contribute to high peak demands as well as potential increases in forced outages for generation and some BPS (bulk power system) equipment.”

 

(Sidebar: but not safe-guarding power grids or using other energy sources ?)

A taste of what might come:

The true toll of Saturday’s storm is still unclear, but police say at least seven people died from falling trees in the strong winds while an eighth died when the boat she was in capsized on the Ottawa River near Masson-Angers, Que.

As of Saturday the known victims in Ontario included a 44-year-old man who died in Greater Madawaska west of Ottawa, a woman in her 70s out for a walk in Brampton, a 59-year-old man on a golf course in Ottawa and one person killed in their camping trailer near Pinehurst Lake in Waterloo Region.

On Sunday, provincial police said the storm had also caused the death of a 64-year-old woman at a home in North Kawartha Township and a 74-year-old woman in Port Hope, while Durham regional police said a 30-year-old man had died in Ganaraska Forest east of Toronto.

The widespread damage from the storm has led the Ontario towns of Uxbridge, north of Toronto, and Clarence-Rockland, east of Ottawa, to declare states of emergency, while hundreds of thousands across both provinces remain without power.

We have numerous buildings damaged and people displaced,” said Uxbridge Mayor Dave Barton.

The downtown core sustained significant damage, including to several residential buildings and a brewery, while the town is still experiencing significant power outages, said Barton.

“The largest pressure is actually the lack of power and infrastructure. At the moment, we don’t know what we don’t know. Because most phone lines are down, we don’t know who needs assistance and who doesn’t.”

 

And that is just a summer storm.

Imagine province or nation-wide outages.