Photo by Daniel Bosma via Getty Images
Solar and wind alone can’t give us the energy we need.
Electricity prices are spiking, our power grid is struggling and it’s all Jimmy Carter’s fault. Well, it’s not all the late former president’s fault. But he got the ball rolling. Let me explain.
According to a January 2026 report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, “The overall resource adequacy outlook for the North American [bulk power system] is worsening.” Translation: We aren’t making enough electricity. The risk of power outages has risen in recent years, the January 2026 report concludes, even as consumers pay more.
Rising demand—from data centers, EVs and home heat pumps—is partly responsible, NERC reports. But a bigger problem is how we make electricity today. For decades, federal and state policies nudged operators to retire dependable coal, gas and nuclear plants and replace that electricity with wind and solar power. These variable, weather-dependent sources, NERC notes, “increase the complexity of planning and operating a reliable grid.”
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Wall Street Journal (paywall)
______________________
James B. Meigs is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a City Journal contributing editor.