This article is an assessment by the coal mining industry, and as such, it is most likely heavily biased. The reason I blog it is that it gives an idea of what the EPA is implementing and what the consequences might be. What does this have to do with LEDs, you might ask. Well, we went through such an electricity shortage crisis back in 2000 and 2001 and I had to build my own LED flashlights back then. Today’s situation is different now that LED flashlights are available everywhere for very reasonable prices. But still the increased demand could cause fluctuations in prices of many things, depending on the ability of industry to handle the demands.
The article is here:
http://www.politico.com/sponsor-content/2014/07/epa-rule-puts-us-economy-electric-grid-at-risk/?ml=tb&ml=tb
Since the blackouts in the electric grid decades ago, technical improvements have been made to the grid to improve stability and reduce the chance of a major regional power outage.
Here in So. Calif., the city of Anaheim built a power plant which uses four natural gas powered turbine generators that can can be brought online in a matter of minutes. The plant puts out 250 megawatts, which is small by power plant standards but it contributes to the stability by being quickly available to make up for power outages and losses.