Think the rest of the country will avoid electricity shortages of the kind that have led to rolling blackouts recently in California? Don’t bet on it. Not enough baseload power from fossil fuel and nuclear plants and an increasing reliance on intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar across the country are likely to keep power failures in the national spotlight for years to come.

Even before the California crisis, repairing chronic defects in electricity markets from the West Coast to the Midwest, and New England was already seen as a priority. Now it is an absolute necessity, and it’s high time.