Power grids in the Western United States are struggling. As temperatures increase and populations grow, so does the stress on systems that keep our electricity running.

For the West, electricity is most important in the hot summer months. It keeps our cool air-conditioners pumping.

Going without air conditioning for too long can be not only an annoyance, but also a major health risk, especially in states like Arizona with over 100-degree averages each summer.

A 2023 study by the Environmental Science and Technology journal showed that about half of Valley residents would need emergency medical care if a blackout occurred in the middle of the day.

Arizona has fewer outages than national average

But across the nation, blackouts are on the rise. The study also found that between 2016 and 2021, there was a 150% increase in power grid outages across the United States.

Despite this, Arizona is drastically below the national average when it comes to grid failures. In the last 24 years, the state has only had six outages due to extreme weather, according to Climate Central data.

Typically, a monsoon storm will cause power outages, according to Ashley Kelly, director of transmission operations and maintenance for APS.

APS services the majority of Arizona in energy distribution.

“Maintaining balance between how much you’re generating and how much your customers are using your energy is something that we do on a minute-by-minute basis. And so if there are disruptions, it’s normally because there’s an imbalance to that or a piece of equipment has gotten damaged,” she said.

Planning for the future

Overplanning is a way to stay ahead of any possible issues that could arise due to extreme heat, Tayla Beckham told Valley 101. She is the manager of real-time operations at APS.

This week on Valley 101, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we’ll look into what makes Arizona’s power grid efficient and if it is prepared to withstand rising temperatures in the future.

Listen to the episode

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Catch up on past episodes of Valley 101:

Arizona State Sun Devils ranking: 56/134

[Check out RJ Young’s ultimate 134 college football rankings here]

Conference ranking: 15th in Big 12 (+10000 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Texas State (55), Central Florida (54), Georgia Tech (53), Fresno State (52), Duke (51)
Teams behind them: Cincinnati (57), Virginia Tech (58), Western Kentucky (59), Coastal Carolina (60), South Carolina (61)

[Arizona State 2024 schedule]

RJ’s take: I’m a young man in college football. I tend to like my peers, and Kenny Dillingham is one of them. Any man who works his ass off the way he does — the way I do — I’ll bet on figuring it out, running it out and eventually whooping opponents up one side and down the other of any mountain.

Well, this is one such mountain for Dillingham. Jaden Rashada is gone. Drew Pyne is gone. Jalin Conyers is gone. 

But I like what’s left and what’s been brought in, including former National Gatorade Player of the Year Jake Smith, former Houston standout Alton McCaskill, former Oklahoma EDGE Clayton Smith, Texas-ex Troy Omeire and former five-star Raleek Brown joining Cam Skattebo on the offense.

Turn Jeff Sims into the kind of man who can take care of the football, earn the starting job and then roll out like the team that had Washington on the ropes with by-God Trenton Bourguet at QB. But that non-conference ain’t no gimme. Matter of fact, it looks like getting hit with the whammy: Wyoming, Mississippi State and Texas State before going into the teeth of a Big 12 schedule that features KU, K-State, Utah and Oklahoma State.

Tighten up, Kenny. Go put “devil” in Sun Devil.

Arizona State’s Win Total Odds: Over 4.5 (+135) Under 4.5 (-160)

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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Families, friends and state leaders gathered on Saturday afternoon to welcome home hundreds of brave men and women from the Arizona National Guard.

Over 350 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment, Bushmasters returned home after serving in 17 locations across seven countries. Among those were Bushmasters who were injured in a drone attack in Jordan earlier this year, which left three U.S. service members from Georgia dead.

Despite the attack, officials say the unit’s dedication and rigorous training ensured they responded with exceptional professionalism and bravery.

“They were basically in the central command area of the Middle East, South Asia, and they were involved in law and order and security in the region,” said Maj. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck. “Service is something that nobody can take away from them. Once they’ve done it, they own it forever, and that is something they should be proud of.”

Maj. Gen. Muehlenbeck added that the soldiers’ differences helped them succeed in their mission.

“That’s the beauty of the National Guard. We have so many drill status soldiers who do a number of other things in their real job and then they can leverage that opportunity when they deploy. So it’s a great way to come together, take all of their abilities to package it and then to address whatever comes along,” she explained.

Families eagerly awaited their loved ones’ arrival with American flags, signs and flowers. One woman’s sign read, “I’ve waited 313 days for this moment.”

“It’s just a rush of emotion,” said Maj. Gen. Muehlenbeck. “The signs are just a great reminder that everything we do, those of us in uniform, we can’t do it without the support of our family members, the support of our friends.”

Gov. Katie Hobbs was also in attendance to welcome home the troops and thanked them for representing Arizona.

Capt. Hyrum Byers shared that being away from his growing family was difficult during his first deployment with the battalion.

“My wife was pregnant during the deployment, so not being able to help her while she was pregnant for the first few months was very challenging. That, and also to focus on the very real mission we had over there,” he explained. “It’s been good to be home; great to be around my kids again. This whole battalion did a good job. All of their families should be proud, proud of what they did because they did awesome.”

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