The News
A power outage plunged most of Chile into darkness, prompting the government to briefly declare a national emergency.
The blackout in the capital Santiago and the mining-intensive north roiled markets as production of copper ground to a halt; Chile is the world’s biggest producer of the metal.
Latin America’s hydropower-dependent electricity grids have proved unreliable recently due to shifting weather patterns caused by climate change. Droughts have led to blackouts in several countries, hurting economic growth and destabilizing local politics.
As grids worldwide shift to renewable — but intermittent — sources, policymakers elsewhere “require a new paradigm for thinking about energy security,” two experts wrote for the Washington-based Stimson Center.
