Electricity grids are faltering worldwide. This is why.

It is very hot in Texas right now. Many parts of the state are hotter than they’ve ever been at this time of year. In the coastal city of Corpus Christi, the heat index, a combined measure of heat and humidity, reached a shocking 125 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 52 degrees Celsius.

That’s because a weather system called a heat dome is parked over Texas, Oklahoma and parts of Mexico. People are struggling and one person may have died from the baking temperatures. And there are many concerns about the Texas power grid.

That heat dome could remain in place until the beginning of July. It is predicted to expand to Arkansas, Louisiana and Kansas. If people crank up their air conditioners to stay cool, will the vents hold up?

Today I want to explain to you why power grids are a huge concern during extreme heat waves and what policymakers can do about it.

Texas is special in a major way.

Texas’ power grid is more vulnerable to extreme weather than most others. That’s because Texas has very few connections to an out-of-state grid, so it’s harder for it to import energy from other states when things get desperate.

There’s a history behind this, like Austin’s NPR station explained. But really, it’s because Texas energy companies and policymakers wanted to avoid federal regulation.

As my colleagues Nadja Popovich and Brad Plumer recently explained, Texas could have experienced fewer power outages in 2021 if its power grid was connected to other states.

Building more transmission lines could also build more resilience internally, for example by connecting new power plants wind farms in the westto areas of high demand, such as Houston.

“Texas is expanding the grid within the state faster than anywhere else in the United States, but it’s still not fast enough,” said Michael E. Webber, a professor of energy resources at the University of Texas.

But this isn’t just about Texas.

Grid operators worldwide are having a hard time.

Mexico has issued a rare warning that its network may not be able to handle the surge in demand. Mexican news channels reported that blackouts in 12 states. China has a stock on one record amount of coal to prepare for the heat of this summer. Britain too resorted to coal to generate additional power.

Some Texas leaders want to use more fossil fuels in their case natural gas, also to meet the demand. Overall, however, the Texas energy grid is getting cleaner.

That’s a bitter irony: using more fossil fuels, which cause climate change, to cope with extreme heat. The trajectory of global warming will not change if governments continue to respond to extreme weather events by using more oil, gas and coal.

As my colleague Somini Sengupta explained in a previous newsletter, air conditioners are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. There are other ways, like building better, to beat the heat.

Many question is not the full story.

Many types of machines don’t work very well under extreme heat. Power plants, transmission lines, and even the air conditioners in our homes work less effectively when it’s hot outside, Webber told me.

“This raises the question of whether it loads the grid. At the same time, the net is less able to keep up,” he said. “So it’s like a double or triple whammy.”

During the Texas heat wave, he said, some nuclear, coal or gas plants went offline, even though the general collapse that occurred during a deadly 2021 winter storm did not repeat itself.

“But it’s pretty tough; it’s on the edge,” he said.

The policy solutions.

It would really help if Texas could make buildings more energy efficient. It would save energy and make homes more comfortable when the power goes out. But leaders in Texas have resisted passing such legislation.

a rare bill for energy savings to pass the Texas legislature vetoed by Governor Greg Abbott as part of an effort to force lawmakers to lower property taxes. The bill would have reformed codes to make new buildings more energy efficient.

There is an ideological divide in the state between Republicans, who want to build more fossil fuel power plants, and Democrats, who want to build more renewables.

“It looks like it’s gotten partisan,” Webber told me. “But the pain is felt in an all-encompassing way.”

Texas has never had a major summer blackout, but that could soon changeDoug Lewin, a Texas energy expert, wrote in his newsletter. Without a policy to conserve energy, the Texas electric company can do it alone begging people to save energy.

“Enough energy is available except for a few hours a day in the summer,” Lewin wrote. “But in the summer it’s all about controlling that peak.”

Related:

Rebuilding Global Finances: Representatives from about 80 countries are meeting in Paris to discuss the overhaul of a system that many believe is unsuitable for the era of climate change.

A $10.3 Billion Settlement: 3M, the chemical and manufacturing giant, reached a deal with US cities over their claims it was contaminating their water with so-called forever chemicals.

E-bike battery lights up: Electric bicycle batteries were the cause of more than 100 fires in New York City this year, some of them deadly. Officials are trying to make batteries safer.

Sea lion deaths: Hundreds of animals are dying along the California coast. Rescuers believe the culprit is a toxin that occurs naturally but can be made more harmful by human activity.

California’s trillion-gallon demand: Extreme weather threatens dams in the state, in part because designers failed to account for climate change. What if they fail?

Parched Iran: Lawmakers warn that one province will run out of water within three months. The shortage leads to tensions with the country’s neighbors.

Protection of endangered species: The Biden administration has taken steps to reinstate measures under the Endangered Species Act that President Donald J. Trump had struck down.

Before you go: Helping fish, helping people

For years, scientists and policymakers have debated whether marine protected areas are working as intended to maintain fish populations and whether they are helping or harming the people who live nearby. Now, a new study shows that protecting marine areas from overfishing can have significant benefits for coastal communities.

Claire O’Neill, Chris Plourde and Douglas Alteen contributed to Climate Forward.