Power grid watchdog warns reliance on wind and solar will lead to winter blackouts | Eastern NC Now

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has warned that reliance on weather-dependent intermittent wind and solar power will make winter blackouts more likely in the future.  NERC is the official watchdog on the electric grid and power supply for the country.  Its warning came in its annual Long Term Reliability Assessment.

Wind and solar power are highly favored by Democrats, but opposed by many Republicans. They are intermittent sources of electricity rather than reliable baseload.  Solar panels only produce power when the sun is shining, not at nighttime or when it is cloudy or foggy or when dew, frost, ice, or snow covers the panels.  It also produces less power in winter when the days are shorter and sunlight less intense.  Wind turbines only produce power when the wind is blowing, but not so hard that the blades have to be tethered.

NERC warned that phasing out reliable gas and coal plants and replacing them with intermittent wind and solar greatly increased the chances of blackouts, especially in winter.  Phasing out gas, coal, and nuclear was national policy under Biden that has been reversed under Trump.  However many Democrat run states are still pursuing it.  RINOs led by Phil Berger joined with Democrats to make it policy here in North Carolina with the total Senate rewrite of HB951 as a committee substitute.

The failure of wind and solar was largely responsible for a major blackout around Christmas in Texas a few years ago during which a number of people froze to death.  A failure of solar was also responsible for a blackout this past summer that covered all of Spain and Portugal. Failure of wind turbine power has also caused major blackouts in England and Australia. 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/grid-watchdog-warns-over-reliance-wind-and-solar-will-make-winter-blackouts

https://www.nerc.com/globalassets/our-work/assessments/nerc_ltra_2025.pdf

Meanwhile, here is an example of a former climate alarmist or climate scold who finally did her own research and concluded that climate alarmism just does not add up.

https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/02/04/former-climate-scold-now-admits-co2-isnt-destroying-the-planet-n2198818