Electric cars and solar are the hedge against this out-of-control energy crisis — SkimNews
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- Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline (Petroline) was shut down by a drone strike this week, removing roughly 5 million barrels per day (~5% of global supply), pushing Brent crude above $104 and leaving US diesel at record highs.
- The Petroline bypass had become one of the last oil-market shock absorbers left after the Strait of Hormuz was choked and Houthi attacks squeezed Red Sea shipping — an analyst quoted in the piece said the buffers that got the market through the past six months "have basically been worn away."
- US city-average electricity prices hit roughly $0.20 per kilowatt-hour, up from ~$0.13 in 2020 — a more than 50% jump in six years, with the line going nearly vertical since 2022.
- The EIA projects wholesale power prices climbing 23% in 2025 and another 8.5% in 2026, driven by natural gas costs and data center/crypto mining demand pegged at about two-thirds of projected US electricity sales growth for 2026.
- Multiple EVs now support vehicle-to-home bidirectional charging, including the Chevy Silverado EV (up to 21 days of home backup via GM's charger), Ford F-150 Lightning, GM's Ultium lineup, Kia EV9, Tesla Cybertruck, and the new Model Y Performance.
- PG&E's expanded V2X program offers homeowners up to $17,000 in incentives to let utilities draw on their EV batteries — a concrete example of utilities paying for the flexibility that bidirectional charging unlocks.
Why it matters: Residential drivers and ratepayers absorb every shock — from a 5-million-barrel pipeline outage to a 50%+ rise in US electricity since 2020 — while federal policy swings with elections and utilities profit from passing costs through. Pairing rooftop solar with a bidirectional-charging EV gives the homeowner actual control over their bill, and PG&E now pays up to $17,000 for that flexibility.
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