‘Alarm Bells are Ringing’ for Missouri’s Power Grid During Heat

Everything is holding together for now, but there are reports that the power grid in Missouri is being pushed to the extent of its capabilities during the recent historic heat wave.

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I first saw this report from KTTN who shared an interview with Scott Rupp who's the chairman of the Missouri Public Service Commission. He said that "the alarm bells are ringing" regarding how the power grid is faring during the blistering heat. There have been no reported brownouts despite the fact that the National Weather Service has documented Missouri has endured 5 straight days with heat indexes over 100.

Scott Rupp told KTTN that the power grid in Missouri is stable for now, but there could be an emergency if there were to be a plant failure and that they "might need to import energy" in the event of a catastrophe.

So far they're reporting that there is no need to deploy energy conservation measures at this time, but that could change.  There might be energy available from cooler regions if a worst-case scenario were to happen. "Might" is the key word.

The good news is that the heatwave appears ready to relent. The National Weather Service is forecasting temperatures to fall back into the 80's over the upcoming weekend.