Climate change could cripple Canada's power grids. Here's what we can learn from Texas
Source: Jennifer Van Evra · CBC · | March 19, 2021
Freak storms, changing weather patterns and a push toward electrification are adding new pressures
Source: In 1998, an ice storm crippled power systems across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, leaving millions without power for days. (Robert Laberge/AFP via Getty Images)
The storm was unlike anything most Texans had experienced.
Last month, a massive storm blew across the state, hitting residents with heavy snow, thick ice and temperatures as low as -20 C. Millions were left without power for days. More than 50 people died, many while struggling to keep warm.
Critics pointed fingers at the state utilities, which were not equipped to deal with extreme cold, and at the fully deregulated electricity market that doesn't use the kind of centralized planning needed to prepare for system-wide disasters.
But now, as Texans continue to pick up the pieces from the extreme event, experts are warning that Canada needs to better prepare its power grids for the effects of climate change.
According to Francis Bradley, president and CEO of the Canadian Electricity Association, Canada's power systems are better prepared for extreme weather because we've learned from major disasters — events like the 1998 ice storm in the East, the 2013 Calgary floods and the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires.
"Each one of those events resulted in lessons learned, and resulted in changes in terms of how we operate, and the practices and the standard operating procedures within the industry," said Bradley in an interview with What on Earth host Laura Lynch.