Power outages, Tesla’s Powerwall, and extended comment period 

What’s going on in EHS this week? Find out with Safety at the Frontline!

Tune in on Mondays to get the latest safety news with Frontline’s podcast. We’re covering the top EHS news, along with some quick and useful tips, so you can stay safe and keep rocking on the frontlines.

Power outages across the US

So, NERC recently announced that large parts of the country are at risk of blackouts this summer due to the climbing temperatures causing surging demand for energy.

The Upper Midwest is especially facing a capacity shortfall leading to a “high risk of energy emergencies.” The entire Western U.S. also could face a power outage emergency in the event of spikes in energy use.

Droughts will determine how much energy hydro generators can produce, as well as output from thermal generators that need water to keep them cool.

John Moura, NERC’s director of reliability assessment and performance analysis stated that this is one of the grimmest pictures they’ve painted in a long while.

Tesla on using Powerwalls in Texas

This leads us to our next news item, as you may already know from last year’s massive winter storm, Texas generates and uses its own power. Over the past few weeks, increasing temperatures have led to power outages across Texas.

So ERCOT asked Texans to limit electricity use, keeping their thermostats at 78 degrees or above, and avoid using large appliances between 3 and 8 p.m., Friday through Sunday.

While Texas is set on facing this crisis on its own, Telsa is cooking up a solution.

The company is looking to recruit owners of its Powerwall batteries to provide electricity to the grid in Texas. Their goal is to demonstrate to ERCOT that a group of batteries operating together, called a virtual power plant, can provide electricity and stability to a grid that has been criticized for its unreliability in recent years.

We hope the weather will be on our side throughout the summer, preventing any major outages.

OSHA extends comment period on proposed recordkeeping rule

Last news of the day, we talked about OSHA’s proposed rule that would revise injury and illness recordkeeping in the previous months, just recently OSHA granted a request for a 30-day extension to give stakeholders additional time to prepare and submit responses to the proposal.