US POWER GRID On Brink of Collapse

Americans could soon face a staggering 800 hours of blackouts a year by 2030, thanks to a reckless energy experiment that’s turning the world’s most reliable power grid into a game of Russian roulette.

At a Glance

• The Department of Energy warns of up to 800 hours of annual blackouts by 2030 if current energy policies continue.
• 104 gigawatts of reliable coal and gas plants are scheduled for retirement, while only a fraction will be replaced with firm baseload power.
• Surging electricity demand from AI data centers and manufacturing is outpacing the buildout of dependable energy sources.
• The Trump administration is moving to halt plant closures and end subsidies for unreliable green energy.

The Grid on the Brink: DOE Rings Alarm Bells

The Department of Energy’s latest Resource Adequacy Report has finally put in black and white what millions of Americans have suspected: the grid is one bad policy away from collapse. Released July 7, 2025, the report projects that, unless the headlong rush to shut down reliable coal and gas plants is stopped, Americans could see over 800 hours of blackouts per year by 2030. That’s not a typo—if you thought the rolling outages in California were bad, just wait until the rest of the country gets a taste.

This risk comes as the nation’s power demand is exploding, driven by energy-hungry AI data centers and a renaissance in domestic manufacturing. Yet, instead of preparing for this new age with robust, dependable power, policymakers have been busy retiring 104 gigawatts of coal and natural gas plants—enough to power nearly 80 million homes. What’s replacing them? Not much that can be counted on. Of the 209 gigawatts of new capacity planned, a pathetic 22 gigawatts is firm baseload, with the rest coming from intermittent sources like wind and solar that can’t keep the lights on when the sun sets or the wind dies down.

The High Cost of “Energy Subtraction” and Political Virtue Signaling

Let’s cut through the bureaucratic fog: this isn’t an “energy transition”—it’s energy subtraction, plain and simple. The old, reliable backbone of the American grid is being yanked out with nothing sturdy to replace it. The DOE’s report makes the case in blunt terms: without a serious course correction, we’re not just risking inconvenience. We are risking economic chaos, manufacturing flight, and a national security crisis as the grid buckles under the weight of policies more concerned with virtue signaling than physics.

Secretary of Energy Scott Wright didn’t mince words: “The United States cannot afford to continue down the unstable and dangerous path of energy subtraction… If we are going to keep the lights on, win the AI race, and keep electricity prices from skyrocketing, the United States must unleash American energy.” Anyone with a flicker of common sense knows you can’t run a modern economy on hope, hashtags, and taxpayer-funded solar panels that freeze up in a snowstorm.

Trump Administration Pushes Back: Ending Green Giveaways, Extending Plant Life

The Trump White House, recognizing the disaster barreling down the tracks, is doing what Washington rarely does: hitting the brakes before the train wreck. Following Executive Order 14262 in April, the administration has moved to halt or delay the closure of still-operational coal and gas plants and is pressing Congress to end the green energy handouts that have distorted the market. There’s no mystery here—if you want lights, jobs, and a country that doesn’t grind to a halt every time the wind stops blowing, you need real power plants, not just more government spending and wishful thinking.

The administration’s approach, branded as “energy addition,” stands in sharp contrast to the previous decade of “energy subtraction.” Instead of picking winners and losers based on which lobbyist cries loudest, the new policy supports all forms of reliable generation. The message to utilities is clear: keep what works, build more of it, and stop gambling America’s future on unreliable tech fantasies.

The Stakes: Economic Survival, National Security, and Basic Common Sense

The consequences of getting this wrong are not theoretical. Blackouts mean lost paychecks, shuttered factories, and a green light for foreign adversaries to exploit America’s weakness. The DOE’s report warns that grid instability threatens not just comfort, but the country’s economic growth, manufacturing comeback, and even our leadership in game-changing technologies like AI. If Washington continues to treat the electric grid like a social experiment, the result won’t be utopia—it’ll be Venezuela.

Of course, the usual suspects are already wringing their hands, warning that rolling back support for unreliable renewables will slow “progress” on climate goals. Progress for whom? Certainly not for the American family facing $400 monthly utility bills or the small business owner who can’t keep the refrigerators running. The American people know that a secure, affordable energy supply is the foundation of freedom and prosperity—not another subsidy for Silicon Valley billionaires or Chinese solar panel makers.