Why haven't summer's extreme heat waves caused any blackouts? Renewable energy is helping.

Florida is set to experience heat index values of up to 115 degrees this week. Persistent, scorching temperatures covered much of the Southwest, expanding into the Midwest and Northeast in July. Record after record was broken.

And yes so far, the nation's electric grid has held firm. No blackouts, as happened in California in 2022. No brownouts as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas warned could happen this summer. No rolling power outages as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) alerted might be an issue in the hottest summer months.

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Over the past 70 years, the United States' energy mix has changed substantially, shifting from coal, natural gas and hydroelectric power from dams in 1950 to greater reliance on natural gas and nuclear in 2000. But in the last 20 years, an increasing part of the mix has been made up of ever-cheaper wind and solar power.

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Having multiple different sources of energy has allowed the Texas grid to keep up with demand. It's not an either/or situation as some critics try to make it, Webber said.