FX.co ★ Joe Biden declares emergency over threats to electricity generating capacity

In some countries, a state of emergency is declared because of a pandemic, forest fires, and flooding. Meanwhile, there are countries where such measures are taken amid only a particular threat.

A state of emergency is a very serious situation when the local authorities have to take total responsibility for people’s lives. While some countries do their best to avoid such measures, others declare emergency even before the event takes place. Thus, US President Joe Biden invoked emergency powers due to the threats to power generation capacity. According to the White House, the decision was taken because “multiple factors are threatening the ability of the United States to provide sufficient electricity generation to serve expected customer demand.” “These factors include disruptions to energy markets caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change,” the White House website says. Thus, in some parts of the country drought and heatwaves are causing electricity supply shortfalls and boosting demand for electricity. What is more, electricity generation is also affected by rising gas prices. In recent weeks, the price of gas has been hovering near its multi-year highs amid low production paces, significant exports of liquefied natural gas, and insufficient reserves.