California’s Electric Grid Is Near Collapse

California’s Electric Grid Is Near Collapse

‘California’s bet on renewables and shunning of natural gas and nuclear power, is directly responsible for the state’s blackouts and high electricity prices’

By Katy Grimes, August 19, 2020 1:13 pm


Tehachapi Wind Farm. (Photo: Wikipedia)
California is rich in natural resources which once powered the state: natural gas deposits in the Monterey Shale formation; geothermal energy, abundant rivers and waterways such as the San Joaquin River Delta and hydroelectric dams; the Pacific coastline; 85 million acres of wildlands with 17 million of those used as commercial timberland; mines and mineral resources, vast farming and agricultural lands, and hunting and fishing.

But California politicians and appointed agency officials, under pressure from radical environmental organizations and lobbyists, decided to ignore the energy producing natural resources, and instead move to an all-electric grid, and the only approved “renewable energy:” solar and wind energy.

A meteorologist friend, Anthony Watts, said Tuesday, “we are on the cusp of a massive failure of the electricity grid in California.” Anthony Watts is a senior fellow for environment and climate at The Heartland Institute, and has been in the weather business both in front of, and behind the camera as an on-air television meteorologist since 1978, and currently does daily radio forecasts. Watts is also proprietor of the award-winning website, Watts Up With That?

Apparently the California Independent System Operator agrees with Watts’ assessment:



Watts explained the difference between California’s imposed rolling blackouts in 2000 and 2001, and the rolling blackouts and power outages today:

The 2000-01 blackouts “occurred when California had a shortage of electricity supply caused by electricity market manipulations. A demand-supply gap was created, mainly by Enron, to create an artificial shortage so speculators could benefit from an 800 percent increase in wholesale electricity prices. As a result, California suffered from multiple large-scale blackouts. Now an electricity shortage coupled with rolling blackouts is happening again, but for a different reason.”

He warned:

“This is going to make Enron rolling blackouts in 2000/2001 look puny. The reason? Solar power – actually the lack of it. Solar power has this thorny problem; it disappears after sunset, and California’s electric grid is highly dependent on it now thanks to the political mandate known as the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32). AB32 specifically required that 50 percent of California’s electricity to be powered by “green energy,” aka wind and solar, by 2025 and 60 percent by 2030, ending in 100% “carbon free” energy by 2045. Now, California is paying the price for abandoning reliable energy sources in favor of green energy sources such as wind and solar power, which don’t work when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. During heat waves like California is experiencing now, there’s typically plenty of sunshine, but winds are often stagnant.”

Yesterday former California Governor Jerry Brown came out of his Colusa County bunker to condescend to sweltering California ratepayers suffering under 110 degree temperatures:



Remember when in 2015 Jerry went off on California citizens for using water?

“At a press conference last week announcing the need for a 25 percent cut in water consumption, Brown said, ‘People should realize we are in a new era. The idea of your nice little green lawn getting watered every day, those days are past.’”

Gov. Gavin Newsom is also calling for residents to conserve energy:



Michael Shellenberger, best-selling author of “Apocalypse Never,” Tweeted: “California’s bet on renewables, & its shunning of natural gas & nuclear, is directly responsible for the state’s blackouts and high electricity prices,” and warned about the Biden-Harris plan.



Watts provided a chart showing California’s growing power outages between 2008 and 2017:


California power outages 2008-2017. (Photo: Anthony Watts)


Watts explained the power shortages:

It gets worse. On August 17, during the CAISO Board of Governors Meeting CAISO President Steve Berber let loose with this bit of reality. From transcript:

“You are trading the loss of 3000 megawatts for the collapse of the entire system of California and perhaps the entire West. … When you’re at the very edge and you have a contingency and you have no operating reserves, you risk entire system collapse.”

What a sobering thought.

California has traded energy security to kneel before the false prophet of green energy. Instead of using reliable and affordable nuclear and coal plants, they are using intermittent and unreliable wind and solar power. And the people of California, and perhaps the West in general, may pay the price for that homage if the power grid collapses during the ongoing heat wave.

If that happens, such an event will dwarf what happened at the hand of market manipulators like Enron in 2000/2001, and will be the most expensive and devastating green energy lesson ever in history.

It gets even worse.

As California Globe reported last year, and has been covering since 2011:

• In 2011, California passed the Renewables Portfolio Standard setting the mandate at 33 percent renewable energy by 2020.
• When it became clear that California was nearly there, in 2015, the Legislature moved the bar again and passed SB 350 the “Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015.” SB 350 by Sen. President pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), requires the state to procure 50 percent of electricity from renewable energy and double energy efficiency savings by 2030.
• In 2018, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 100, setting a 100 percent clean electricity goal for the state, and issued an executive order establishing a new target to achieve carbon neutrality – both by 2045.

Power outages and rolling blackouts are coming more frequently as California has taken nuclear power plants offline, and hydroelectric dams offline, while increasing renewables mandates for wind and solar. Nuclear power, as is hydroelectric, is clean and reliable; wind and solar power, while clean, are unreliable and significantly more expensive.

Even the President weighed in on California’s rolling blackouts:

…and touted his energy independence policies:



Meanwhile at his noon press conference Wednesday, Gov. Newsom, who blames California’s wildfires and triple digit heat on climate change, said “the way to deal with the ravages of climate change is to not let the climate change.”

https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/californias-electric-grid-is-near-collapse/
http://archive.is/ocC3A

 

Wow, this is great information, hadn't read this post before. I did not realize how bad things have gotten. 2.5 years before we can consider moving!! We are heading out and it cannot be soon enough.

 

California is the canary in the coal mine for the Green New deal...looking good so far

 

Rarely post here anymore, but feel compelled to comment about this. Because I ain't moving out of state for awhile yet and I live where it's .... hot.

One of three primary markers of a typical first world environment is the availability of electricity on a 24x7 basis. The tacit assumption being that whenever one flips a light switch, there will be light. But what exactly does 24x7 availability require? That's the question those green idiots did not bother with. Back to grade school for them. The problem is they're mandating intermittent power sources to fuel constant demand while at the same time energy storage technology has simply not caught up with the need for it. That situation doesn't look to improve well enough anytime soon.

The short version: 24x7 power requires energy sources capable of 24x7 supply. Solar and wind are fine for taking the edge off when they're operational but without storage technology, they're not ready for prime time. So the short list of reliable sources: coal is off the table, but natural gas is abundant. Add hydro, geothermal and nuclear to the mix. That's it. Storage technology isn't anywhere near where it needs to be to join that group.

The CA PTB don't get their heads out of their collective a****, it won't be long before California starts regularly imitating developing countries with rolling blackouts and brownouts *every* summer. What an embarrassment. It's bad enough people were already leaving the state; this will really drive the work at home folk away because work at home only works with reliable power.

 

I have customers in the standby generator business, and contractors were going door to door in CA selling backup generators for $10-$15k a pop all day long. The issue is real, and nobody deserves it more than CA. (I'm a former CA resident and the leadership there is clueless)

They have found multiple ways to drive out businesses and nearly bankrupt their state multiple times under the guise of being "progressive". Policies need to match reality, and too many of the leaders there are just clueless. It's sad to see.

 

You gotta try different things even when things work, keep moving whether good or badthat's "progress" in progressivism.

 

The Dept. of Energy is stepping in to help, and offer much needed criticism.

 

Imagine being an immigrant coming from India, Vietnam, etc., thinking that America is the best and then you end up in California and they tell you that you need to cut back your electricity. They're probably thinking, 'I left my family for this?' I'm not going to hate on California because their economy is huge and they clearly provide a lot of benefits to America and the world but their politicians have turned California into a dumpster... AOC thinks you can get electricity whenever you want and that we all need to go green... Instead of talking about it, she should help invent newer technology to do so.. That's REAL progression. AOC thinks because she opens her mouth and talks about it, she's doing real change. Real change comes from the private sector pushing out new technology and quite frankly, we are not anywhere near where we should be in terms of clean energy to where people can live comfortable. I'm really confused as to why any working-class person would want to live in California... High taxes, dirty cities, high prices, disgusting politicians who make things worse on the daily. You could earn minimum wage in many other cities and live way better than in California. I have clients from Texas and the majority of them were former Californians... I wonder why!

 

Total agreement. Make your alternatives viable. Heck, Tesla has done a great job with their batteries, to the point where I would consider buying an electric vehicle. Why?? Not to help the green deal, I would buy it because it is a good driving vehicle that could save me a ton of money on fuel costs. The idea of having solar panels on my home that could power my car for basically nothing, is very appealing to me. If we could get his solar peak stations built in California, it could likely help us through much of these peak hours where our "green" approach is falling short. But are they doing that? Nope! Most of these crap from our politicians is all talk and agenda without real solutions. Green energy, police defunding, globalization, etc. etc.

2.5 more years here, until my wife retires and we are out. I am looking forward to that day.

 

“2.5 more years here, until my wife retires and we are out. I am looking forward to that day.”

Totally get the desire and impetus to move. Curious which frigid or scorching (worst months) and /or natural disaster crap shoot (other than CA random and far between shakers) are you going to select geographically? Have you decided, Wino?

 

Still processing, but we have family on my wifes side in Atlanta. We don't want to be in Atlanta but close enough to not have to fly there would be nice. We are looking at Charleston, Charlotte, Greenville, Greensboro, Knoxville and Chattanooga. If Charleston, we would move inland from there. So far, Greenville and Knoxville are leading but a lot could change in 2.5 years.

There is no second place for weather, Southern California is #1 and the next place is #10. The gap is huge but there is more to life than weather.

 

I have been to the Philippines. Many Filipinos from the boonies will know all about brownouts and blackouts. A routine occurrence in some regions there. Now we're going to emulate them? Not sure they came here for that, lol.

Allow me to put in a word for Columbia, SC. It's off the I-20 so easy drive from Atlanta. I lived there for 18 months. There are a fair number of areas outside the main part of the city that are fairly nice. Lots of transplants from elsewhere.

If thinking of Charlotte, check out Rock Hill, just across the border from Charlotte. Charlotte is big city with big city issues.

Close to Atlanta? Look at Athens or Augusta as alternatives to Greensboro.

Thinking Charleston, SC? Have a look at Savannah, GA. I really liked that city a lot though I've only been there as a visitor.

But yeah, about that weather ... lol. Hot and humid summers. Even if you never get hurricanes where you're at, you can still get summer storms that are a tad too interesting. Friend I lived with set up an interior closet as a storm panic room. That wind can really blow like you've never heard it blow in CA. It can and does snow some most winters. Roads can get very icy. A real hazard if you're not used to it.

One more, don't buy next to a lake. Looks pretty, but you'll probably get the mozzies bad in the summer. I mean real bad. Like Minnesota bad (they're not called the state bird of MN for nothing). So bad they'll drive you off the patio. Buy a few blocks away and then they won't be as bad.

 

I am trying to find a conservative city so that I don't end out in a state that is one step behind California. I know that will bring it's own set of problems, but I like those better than the ones I face here. So I tend to look at places that are at the very least, very close to 50/50 politically but all things being equal and I will go for a conservative dominated state. We also want good shopping, close and upscale groceries, Costco, places my wife can browse for clothing and we also want easy getaway locations that give us easy places to cruise and discover.

Columbia worries me because of the amount of crime there but compared to San Diego, most of the south has worse crime. I know it is all about the neighborhoods. I will read up about Columbia, I have been avoiding it because of my perception of it as a liberal city with high crime.

We are looking at Rock Hill as well as Fort Mill and Indian Land, (weird name for a neighborhood but whatever.) In fact, we are also looking all the way from Steel Creek to Mint Hill along the southern section of Charlotte. Don't have any interest in other areas of Charlotte and are leaning away at this point. It is going to cost us an extra couple grand a year to live in NC. The main thing that could attract us to the region is that we have a number of friends in the Greensboro area. NC is also super liberal and once again, I want to try something else.

So, my wifes family, while having some nice members, has some real jerks that need a lot of attention and I want NOTHING to do with that part of it. I want to be close enough to drive but far enough to be an excuse on why we don't come more often. LOL, if you know what I mean?? We looked at Athens and Augusta, did not like either of them too much. Both these towns have limited things to do, places like Greensboro have a ton of things to do. There are a lot more people up there than most out here realize. That tri county area has over close to 5 million people all while not being a huge city like Charlotte.

Love Savannah but it had some limitations that I was not loving. To live, I prefer the Charleston region, though would probably live in Hanahan or Summerville.

I have been kind of concerned with the fact that none of these houses have basements, especially since the tornado alleys of Texas seem to be moving east. Not sure how we can secure our home once we move. Perhaps I need to go into this with the attitude that we will need to create a storm room. Hmmmmmm????

We are getting ready to buy a new car and we will get an AWD this time around.

I am hoping I am able to address all my hazard concerns on our home purchase. We will see.

Thanks for your input.

 

Do east Texas. Reasonable drive to get there to Atlanta, and when they secede, you're in good shape.

 

over an 11 hour drive, even from east texas. Too far. We originally considered the Fort Worth area but decided it did not work for us. Too far from the people we know well, too flat, too far for the kind of weekend getaways we want. Would have been great about 25 years ago but we don't want to retire there.

 

https://www.latimes.com/california/...is-weekend-as-pg-e-prepares-to-shut-off-power
https://archive.is/0jH1S

 

Hey no sweat. Sacramento has got this. Solution in two parts: Step 1. Mandate for even more of the grid to come from wind, solar and anything else that doesn't generate electricity 24/7. Step 2. Mandate all new cars in 15 years need to be powered by ..... ding ding ding ..... electricity.