Powerless Promises: How Mandates Leave Grids Vulnerable

As certain states across the country continue down the path of aggressive top-down renewable energy mandates, we are seeing the real-world consequences of these choices. From skyrocketing electricity bills to embarrassing grid failures, our laboratories of democracy are showing what does – and what does not – work.

A recent editorial in The Wall Street Journal highlighted a particularly glaring example of this in Los Angeles, where a heatwave led to widespread power outages affecting tens of thousands of residents and cultural events, including concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and football games at the Los Angeles Coliseum. While some may be quick to point the finger at “extreme heat,” this fails to address the larger systemic issue—the folly of prioritizing favored industries over the integrity of the power grid itself.

California’s leaders, like former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, have been all too eager to make grand announcements about achieving 100% renewable energy. In 2021, he proudly declared the city was on the “fast track” to a fully renewable future. But, as the editorial notes, that path has been anything but reliable. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has poured billions into subsidizing green energy projects and electric vehicle infrastructure, while the essential backbone of the city’s power system—aging transmission lines and overburdened transformers—have been neglected.

The result? A failing grid that can’t withstand the normal heat of summer, even as neighboring states like Arizona, Nevada, and Texas manage similar extreme conditions without major disruptions. Los Angeles residents and tourists were left to deal with rolling blackouts, with some lasting as long as 24 hours. Meanwhile, for the pleasure of unreliable electricity, residents have seen their electricity rates soar—up 36% since January 2021.

This isn’t just an L.A. problem; it’s a glimpse into the future for the rest of America if policymakers continue to prioritize renewable mandates over grid reliability. Renewable energy has a place in the mix, but it should not come at the expense of the affordable, dependable power and reliable infrastructure for delivering electricity to homes, businesses, and industry.

The lesson from Los Angeles is clear: reliability should be the foundation of any energy policy—not an afterthought.

At our recent Annual Meeting, ALEC members voted to approve the Electric Ratepayers Affordability and Reliability Advocacy Act. Many states have advisory or regulatory bodies in place to represent the interests of rate-paying utility customers. Unfortunately, many of these boards have become co-opted and lost their mission focus. They are being exploited by special interests whose main purpose is not to protect ratepayers from excessive costs but is to champion causes and political objectives that have little to do, and are often at odds, with maintaining reliable and affordable electricity.

This model legislation seeks to correct this issue by creating a “Ratepayer Affordability and Reliability Advocate” whose singular mission is to advocate for the most reliable, least cost form of electricity in a service area, which is what authorities should have been focusing on from the start.