Will Brownouts Return to America?

It is Only a Matter of the Will to Solve the Issue

Back in the 1970s and 80s America experienced what was referred to as “brownouts”. It was not a blackout of electric service, but it heralded an era of possible shortages of electricity to power our energy intensive civilization. Brownouts occurred on days and during hours of high demand for electric power primarily to run all the air conditioners people had become accustomed to and dependent on.

As with all impending crises the a/c was not the sole culprit when the power became short. The brownout occurred when too many users demanded too much power from the grid that the voltage dropped below the acceptable 110-volt threshold. Incandescent bulbs would dim. Compressor motors would strain to stay running to pump the heat out of our houses, officers and apartment. Many commercial HVAC systems had under-volt protection so the motors did not overheat and become damaged. Lesser systems merely strained until they failed.

The utility companies were faced with the prospects of building another generation plant at a cost of hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. Even with funding available, it would take years and even decades to bring a new plant online.

As mentioned above, it was not merely the A/C demand that browned-out the grid. It was all the dishwashers, laundromats, 100-watt bulbs and refrigerators all plugged in and pulling power at the same time. There arose an alternative to building…