The Next Energy Crisis Could Be a Water Crisis
Russia Receives First Gasoline Cargo From India as Fuel Shortages Spread Leonard S.
Hyman is an economist and financial analyst specializing in the energy sector.
He headed utility equity research at a major brokerage house and… Strategic shortfalls? Maybe in getting cobalt out of the Congo or rare earth powders from China or natural gas from Russia or oil from the Persian Gulf? Or maybe something closer to home.
Thanks to climate change (yes, just say it and hope the big boss doesn’t hear you), temperatures have risen, and rainfall patterns have changed dramatically.
As an example of the consequences, the Colorado River’s flow has diminished and Lake Mead, its principal reservoir, has dropped to record low water levels.
Aside from the obvious impact on water users in the Southwest, Hoover Dam, at the foot of Lake Mead, is a large power producer and one of its biggest customers is the giant Metropolitan Water District of California.
( In other words, the MWD stands to lose twice over: water and power).
European power producers have a different problem: not enough water in rivers to cool the power stations or carry fuel on barges.
(Still another issue, if sea level rises, is the impact of that rise on coastal power stations.
But that’s a little farther off.) And, in case you didn’t know, extremely hot weather affects the carrying capacity and operations of electricity transmission and distribution facilities.
The big new electricity users, the AI centers, need water not only for their own operations but also for their power plants.
Are we heading for markets in which power producers, power users, and everyone else will have to bid for a static or declining water supply? Power generation already accounts for roughly one third of water use in the USA.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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