11 states face blackout risk as massive solar storm threatens power grid
Story by Alana Loftus
• 5h •
Northern Lights© Getty
Eleven states across the US have received blackout warnings amid a forecasted severe geomagnetic storm.
The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued the forecast on Tuesday. It warned that a severe geomagnetic storm at a strength of category G4 would cause issues with electrical grids for states poleward of the 45th parallel.
The US states north of that latitude include Oregon, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. It comes as a solar storm tsunami is predicted 'to strike earth today' with devastating consequences.
The storm is expected to reach a strength of G4 and above which suggests there could be serious impacts.
The forecast from NOAA said, "Possible widespread voltage control problems and some protective systems may mistakenly trip out key assets from the power grid,” and warned that satellite systems could be "degraded or inoperable for hours."
The storm did have one pleasant effect, as people all over the country were able to witness an aurora borealis, better known as the northern lights. It was seen as far south as Alabama on Tuesday night due to the storm.
News of the outages comes as demand for energy has surged to the highest levels in over a decade. This is driven by both climate-related issues and the expanding footprint of Artificial Intelligence-powered data centers.
The Department of Energy and independent grid operators announced in July that without rapid intervention and updated infrastructure, various regions of the US could face more frequent disruptions to their power in coming years.
Severe weather events are also occurring more frequently across the country. Hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, wildfires, heatwaves to cold snaps, heavy snow, and ice storms can also physically damage infrastructure and peak electricity demands can overwhelm the system, according to EcoFlow.
This summer, numerous power outages in specific areas caused widespread upset. Power outages have the ability to threaten critical services and economic resilience.
America has multiple blackout hotspots, some of which include West Coast states like California and Washington, East Coast areas like Florida and New England, the Chicago-Detroit metropolitan area, and the Texas Gulf Coast.
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