Last week, millions across Spain and Portugal were left in the dark. A massive blackout disrupted transportation systems, halted industrial production, and even knocked communications offline. While the exact cause is still unknown, Spain’s grid was teetering on the edge for days, plagued by power surges, system imbalances, and an overreliance on renewable generation.
According to the Associated Press, “questions remain about whether Spain’s heavy renewable energy supply may have made its grid system more susceptible to the type of outage that took place Monday. The thinking goes that non-renewable energy sources, such as coal and natural gas, can better weather the type of fluctuations observed Monday on Spain’s grid.”
With economic losses estimated in the billions, this massive blackout is a wake-up call about what happens when we move too far, too fast, without the right mix of resources and without enough dispatchable power to balance the system. The entire grid becomes vulnerable to failure, and failure is not an option when lives and livelihoods are on the line.
Kentucky deserves a power grid that is dependable, resilient, and affordable. Intermittent sources of power like wind and solar have a role to play in our energy mix, but they cannot be treated as replacements for dependable, always-on sources like coal. As we face growing electricity demand from data centers, manufacturing, and AI-driven technologies, the stakes have never been higher. Shutting down baseload resources is not progress – it is a gamble that Kentucky families and businesses cannot afford. We are proud to stand with local leaders, businesses, and community voices who understand that energy is not just an environmental issue but an economic one, a security one, and a quality-of-life one. Let us learn from Spain’s missteps and ensure we prioritize what matters most: keeping the lights on for every Kentuckian.
