I wonder if there is attempt from government to make it worse- why rolling blackouts? That was being done in California for different reasons. I never understood why. if the grid is still intact, why the need to shut it down ( to save power)? Doesn't make sense to me.
I am not an electrical engineer but I have friends who are, including one who managed the local grid for the Snohomish County (WA) Public Utility District, so I've had a bit of exposure to the issues involve, and there are two principal ones.
While an over simplified analogy in some respects, think of the grid as a highway; A highway (and depending on how many lanes, exit and merging ramps, or cross streets of course) can carry only so many cars at a time, and an electrical power grid can carry only so many kilowatts of electricity at a time. If it is overloaded there can be a catastrophic melt down. Anyone who has ever use a very light weight extension cord for a heavy duty application (I sheepishly raise my hand) will understand, and thank goodness for circuit breakers. The latter point gets to another limiting factor, the substation to which the power grid lines deliver the electricity, with their transformers and such. If those stations are surged with more electrical power than they were designed to handle things can melt down and the entire grid will come to a halt.
The other issue is power generation capacity (coal fired, oil fired, natural gas fired, nuclear fired, hydro, wind, solar, and whatever other fuel source I might be forgetting ... it is important to note that the issue is "generation capacity" (how much power can be generated at the moment from the current generation infrastructure, which has nothing to do with future fuel source issues (i.e., if your power grid has a current brown out that is not caused by any future pipe line or fuel lease issues).
When a region has a climate issue (it is getting "too hot" or "too cold" than what the residents consider normal) and these residents want to use more electricity or fuel than they normally would to mitigate their being "too hot" or "too cold", it would seem very logical and natural that there would need to be some short term adjustments. Our Almighty God created the laws of physics and we humans can't just "snap our fingers" and suspend those.