The lessons of Chinese ‘kill switches’ and Spain’s blackout.
Recent revelations that Chinese-manufactured electricity inverters in US solar fields contain radio-controlled “kill switches” that could be used to sabotage the nation’s electrical power grid have raised eyebrows about energy security. The aging US grid system has not been upgraded to keep pace with the increased demand for electricity from electric vehicles (EVs) and data centers. Rapid increases in dependency on power generation from solar farms and wind turbines create additional vulnerabilities, as demonstrated by the largest blackout in modern European history that recently occurred in Spain and Portugal.
Renewable Energy on an Aging Grid
Joe Biden’s administration invested massive subsidies in renewable energy transitions, mirroring European efforts to phase out coal and nuclear power in an urgent push to mitigate alleged climate change. Aside from questions about the generation of non-carbon pollution in the rabid rush to manufacture these technologies at scale (especially in China, but also in nations such as the Congo, where cobalt mining is devastating the region’s ecosystem and communities), an underappreciated shortcoming of these salvific plans is whether the US electrical grid can accommodate such a dynamic shift.
Spain lost 60% of its national electric supply in a mere five seconds. Authorities continue to obfuscate the core cause, and many observers insist that the nation’s hasty conversion to renewable energy, combined with insufficient investment in grid upgrades, precipitated the calamity. The Telegraph recently claimed the root cause was that “authorities were conducting an experiment … probing how far they could push reliance on renewables in preparation for Spain’s rushed phase-out of nuclear reactors [by] 2027.” Either problem bodes poorly for the US grid system.
Americans depend more than ever on electricity, even without the added demand for EVs, projected by the US Energy Department to increase grid energy drawdowns by 40% nationally by 2050. Bureaucratic gridlock is aggravated by local and state oversight of grid maintenance. Increased investment is required for smart meters and energy storage upgrades to integrate renewable energy sources that are often clustered in rural solar or wind farms.
Burdening a Creaky System
Even without these essential improvements, the US grid is more vulnerable than ever. Severe weather events remain a growing threat. Reuters reported in 2022 that US electric outages between 2015 and 2020 more than doubled the average during the previous six-year period. The US Department of Energy in 2015 found that “70% of U.S. transmission lines are more than 25 years old,” and the average large power transformer was more than 40 years old. Power lines typically have a 50-year lifespan, and transformer malfunctions tend to escalate beginning at age 40. Various estimates peg the cost to upgrade this system at more than $2 trillion.
Revelations that Chinese manufacturers have installed “kill switches” in vital inverters on US solar panels suggest these grid vulnerabilities are exacerbated by foul play. As Liberty Nation News recently reported:
“The communication components provide channels that let the solar panels communicate with the grids. However, the rogue components found during a routine security check provide ‘additional, undocumented communication channels that could allow firewalls to be circumvented remotely, with potentially catastrophic consequences … two people said,’ Reuters explained.
“Using these devices has the potential to destabilize power grids, damage energy infrastructure, and trigger widespread blackouts, according to experts.”
Grid regulators are under pressure to minimize rate increases. Utilities often oppose upgrades because they integrate competing power generation and impede profitability, yet these upgrades become more vital as renewable energy conversion is undertaken. EVs are being put into service faster than charging stations are being provided, resulting in a similar mismatch with the solar and wind power generation necessary to charge them and feed high-energy data centers planned across the nation.
Spain and China Portend US Risk
This is a disaster waiting to happen, further threatened by ill-intentioned Chinese actions. A recent poll found that 79% of American voters “think it is likely that a foreign government or terrorist attack could leave Americans without power. Nearly half think it would be months or weeks before power is restored.”
The massive failure of Spain’s grid has been politicized by those opposing renewable energy policies. Yet, there is no question that the Biden administration has dramatically increased the dependency on renewables and the attendant reliability risks, while concurrently increasing the number of electric vehicles (EVs) that escalate electricity demand from an already fragile and neglected electrical grid. In 2022, Reuters observed:
“The [Biden] administration’s climate agenda would add vastly more wind and solar power to the creaky U.S. grid. That would exacerbate the transmission network’s challenges because of the inherent unreliability of these renewable sources. Unlike coal, for example, wind and sunshine can’t be stored for ready use in power emergencies.
“The renewable power expansion would also coincide with a massive demand surge from electric cars.”
The revelations of Chinese kill switches merit further investigation as the root causes of Spain’s grid implosion are exposed. Whether Democrat or Republican, Americans seeking a reliable future grid may agree that a pause button on rapid conversion is in order, pending a fuller analysis of technological limitations, necessary fiscal investment, and the potential for foreign sabotage of the entire system.
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