As we demand more electrons, we will need more fission. Without it, we will sit in the dark — thanks to human-caused electron interference.

In “third world” regions, electricity is an improbable maybe. Throughout much of Africa, southern Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, the Middle East and other economically challenged areas, one might see several outages each day — or outages that last for weeks or months.

It has never been that way in post-industrial Colorado — and most of the rest of the United States — until the past few years.

Marci Kalish of Louisville recently told CBS News she and her husband have endured multiple outages every month for most of the past year. Residents of Golden, and Denver’s Happy Canyon and Sterling Ranch neighborhoods have similar stories.

“We never experienced a problem like this before,” Kalish said.

“What we are seeing is load growth,” said Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy Colorado, during a recent meeting with disappointed customers from metro Denver.

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“And it’s not limited to Colorado. We’re seeing this around the country, where we’re experiencing load growth in ways that we have not historically seen.”

Load growth is up largely because of mandates and sociopolitical pressure to “electrify everything” while demonizing natural gas and coal. Instead of augmenting our energy portfolio with solar and wind, we pretend they are suitable replacements for everything else.

Meanwhile, we increase demand on the electrical grid with battery-powered vehicles, AI data centers and other advancements that demand electrons.

“Wind and solar are challenging because they are not controllable in the same way as coal, gas, or nuclear plants. The main issue is intermittency — sunlight and wind are not always available,” said Kyri Baker, an associate professor in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, as quoted by TechXplore.com.

Without nuclear or coal, we lose much of the grid’s reliable capacity while demand for it soars.

“Texas had a massive cold snap that froze a lot of natural gas infrastructure,” said Baker, an advocate of eliminating carbon fuels. “So, they were unable to pump gas to deliver heat to homes or run power plants.”

Coal-fired electric plants, on the brink of extinction, stored mounds of coal on the ground to ensure reliability during natural disasters, extreme weather events, terror attacks and wars. As the plants and piles disappear, electricity becomes far less certain.

“We’re on the brink of an epic policy failure,” says Amy Oliver Cooke, executive vice president and director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center at Colorado’s Independence Institute.

Colorado’s Legislature passed the Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act in 2010 to eliminate coal. That and an array of other laws against oil, gas and coal — imposed federally and state by state — make outages increasingly routine.

Across the country, outages have doubled over the past two decades. The media quote experts who blame outages on climate change and the weather it causes. They offer little or nothing to support the supposition, which seems improbable.

Among the globe’s 10 deadliest wildfires, only one occurred in the 21st century. Same with the 10 deadliest winter storms, tsunamis and cyclones.

History’s 10 deadliest tornadoes include none this century. Same with famines, floods, avalanches and landslides. Among the 10 deadliest weather disasters of any type, none occurred this century.

When the power goes out, people die because electric air conditioners, heaters and medical devices cannot function.

Safe, small-scale, state-of-the-art fission plants provide the best solution for troubles caused by the destructive green-gone-mad fad. Without fission, Americans will increasingly live in the dark, jeopardized by days of excessive temperatures. Fission — along with solar and wind — would mitigate pollution and electrify everything, regardless of the weather.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board