Video calls out politician for misleading claims made during frigid winter power outage: 'Not enough ... to keep people warm'

One TikTok post is a great example of the importance of getting the facts straight when discussing renewable energy. 

The video from The Goose Media (@the_goose_media) references a politician blaming a winter power outage in Alberta, Canada, on "unreliable" wind energy, even though the electrical grid is mostly powered by dirty energy.

@the_goose_media why Alberta's power grid sucks #alberta #greenscreen #canada #power #grid #greenenergy #solar #renewableenergy ♬ original sound - The Goose

In the clip, The Goose refers to an Alberta government alert warning residents of the risk of power outages due to extreme cold. The alert asked residents to reduce electricity use, which they did, according to the video.

But Alberta politician Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) posted about it on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Right now, wind is generating almost no power. When renewables are unreliable, as they are now, natural gas plants must increase capacity to keep Albertans warm and safe."

In response, The Goose points out that wind energy makes up only a small slice of Alberta's grid, questioning, "When your grid is 90% fossil fuels, why are you blaming wind?" The Goose says the real issue is the grid's small capacity and government mismanagement.

According to Canada's National Inventory Report, more than 80% of Alberta's electricity came from coal and natural gas in 2022. Not only is wind energy a minor contributor to the grid, but researchers have also debunked the myth that renewable energy leads to more blackouts. One study even suggests that adding more wind and solar power can make grids more reliable, especially during extreme weather.

We've seen this before. Think back to the Texas power crisis in 2021 when politicians like Gov. Greg Abbott pointed fingers at renewable energy sources. However, official reports found the real culprits were regulation failures and mismanagement of the power grid.

The New York Times also pointed to freezing natural gas pipelines. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, while some wind turbines did freeze, the largest share of power generation failures came from dirty energy sources.

Misinformation about renewable energy does more than cause confusion. It can hurt efforts to improve energy reliability by shifting blame away from real infrastructure problems. Instead of focusing on upgrading the power grid and making sure dirty energy plants can handle extreme weather, these false claims undermine public trust in renewable energy — even though renewables make the grid more resilient in the long run.

Commenters on X caught on to Smith's misinformation quickly, with one posting, "Two major natural gas generators are out too but sure let's blame wind."

Do you think our power grid needs to be upgraded? Definitely 👍 Only in some states ☝️ Not really 👎 I'm not sure 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Another comment points to the same issue: "Looks like you've got a couple of very large gas generators not working in this cold. Sounds like not enough renewable power is available to keep people warm."

And especially as battery backup systems scale up to further harness renewable energy when generation exceeds needs, free renewable energy from existing natural processes such as sunlight, wind, and water movement will continue to become more and more useful during challenges like these.

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