Time to leave California? Governor Moonbeam may be the best salesman Texas has. While there’s a state delegation in Texas (including former SFO mayor Gavin Newsom) trying to figure out why Texas is pulling business out of California (cue Ross Perot’s giant sucking sound) our governor turns up the volume.
Flashback:
While not the main theme at the moment (hostile state over-regulation of business is) the election reminder of “It’s the electricity, stupid” may someday be a yellow sticky note on some campaign consultant’s computer monitor.
WUWT reader DD More says:
Heard on the radio news this AM and looked it up.
California governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign legislation today requiring energy firms in California to generate 33 per cent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, delivering one of the most ambitious renewable energy standards in the world.
Will you Cali-guys be starting a poll to guess the date someone in the state gives the Steve Holliday speech?
Electricity consumers in the UK will need to get used to flicking the switch and finding the power unavailable, according to Steve Holliday, CEO of National Grid, the country’s grid operator. Because of a six-fold increase in wind generation, which won’t be available when the wind doesn’t blow, “The grid is going to be a very different system in 2020, 2030,” he told BBC’s Radio 4. “We keep thinking that we want it to be there and provide power when we need it. It’s going to be much smarter than that.
“We are going to change our own behaviour and consume it when it is available and available cheaply.”
Texas has already dealt with the electrical issues of renewable energy:
We Spent Billions on Wind Power… and All I Got Was a Rolling Blackout
And, so far, California’s wind power doesn’t hold up so well:
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Anthony:
Electricity consumers in the UK will need to get used to flicking the switch and finding the power unavailable, according to Steve Holliday, CEO of National Grid, the country’s grid operator.
A case of making stuff up, I think. Notice that it is not a quote and I listened to what he did say on the BBC and the entire speech he gave that is referred to. What he had to say was interesting and quite startling in places but I think you can forget the “flicking the switch” stuff as he did not say that at all in either case. As far as journalism goes that piece is nothing to be proud of or be reliably informed by.
Alex
DaveR: What makes you think that had Perot won, he could have gotten the Republicans and Democrats in charge of congress to pass anything he proposed?
As to the vacant buildings in Michigan, you can thank the unions for that. Open borders policies had nothing to do with it.
Senate Environment Committee Hearing on Natural Gas Drilling
http://www.c-span.org/Events/Senate-Environment-Committee-Hearing-on-Natural-Gas-Drilling/10737420841-1/
Live Now! . . . . for those interested . . . .
DaveR says:
April 12, 2011 at 9:57 am
“What a different world we would live in if Ross Perot had won.” And please remember that he could have won had he not self-destructed. And Clinton was elected with just 43 percent of the popular vote. A third party can win in the US. If the Repubs put up another “compassionate conservative,” a Bob Dole, or a John McCain then a third party can win. Sarah Palin should keep her powder dry. Her negatives become positives in a three party race.
lemoutongris
Good news: Canada has hydropower.
Bad news: Doctors are not the only ones gaming the system. Ontario’s electricity watchdog reports:
By staying online, the generator would have collected $10,000 in revenue. But by shutting off, then back on, a qualifying generator gets about $50,000 in revenue. In a six-month period last year, the panel found 426 occasions when generators had shut down, then restarted in two hours or less. One generator was responsible for 336 of the shutdowns.
That is not accurate (live now) it was live at 10 am today . . . at least I think that right.
The Palo Verde Nuclear power plant was constructed with only three of the five reactors it was designed for. This may be a good time to put the other two reactors in as there will be a ready market in California for “clean” power. LA already imports some of the power but there will be a need for more with this law in place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Verde_Nuclear_Generating_Station
Time to invest in LFTR technology to find out if it really is a viable alternative energy source.
The sign that used to be posted outside Seattle requesting that the last one leaving please turn out the lights will need a bit of editing for California – there won’t be any lights to turn out.
You know what Puerto Rico is like?
California will soon resemble it quite closely.
I feel sorry for the sane people left in Cali………… both of them.
Texas has no state income tax and real-estate is much more affordable. That translates into employees needing less salary to maintain the same standard of living which in turn lowers payroll expense for the business as well as lowering the cost for factories and offices. Lower electricity cost is just icing on the cake. But for many Californians living in a state where every statewide political office is held by a Republican might be just too much to bear.
DD More on March 24, 2011 at 9:42 am…on tips said “33%RES (electrical generation in CA)………….. to be signed by Gov. Brown.”
It looks like we (Californians) get to learn from the UK on how to get energy storage in place. There is a meeting on the subject (April 28th) of energy storage and the 33%RES requirement coming up shortly at the California Energy Commission (CEC).
Meeting Announcement http://www.energy.ca.gov/2011_energypolicy/notices/2011-04-28_IEPR_Energy_Storage.pdf
And the agenda- http://www.energy.ca.gov/2011_energypolicy/documents/2011-04-28_workshop/2011-04-28_Agenda.pdf
I think the presentation by Mark Rothlender (California Independent System Operator- the guys responsible for the grid) will be interesting.
MarkW says:
April 12, 2011 at 10:12 am
DaveR: What makes you think that had Perot won, he could have gotten the Republicans and Democrats in charge of congress to pass anything he proposed?
As to the vacant buildings in Michigan, you can thank the unions for that. Open borders policies had nothing to do with it.
============================================
Depends on what policies you’re referencing. There are big three mfr. plants in foreign nations now.
Do any big utilities actually own generation in California, or is all the generation owned by 3rd parties? Wasn’t that one of the problems in the summer of blackouts? This is pie in the sky, and it will be cold and dark or hot and dark, depending on where you live.
Interestingly, SDG&E is building a large wind farm in Montana (electricity bound for Canada) – and receives ‘green certificates’ … to be used in Cali… to offset the electricity generated by ‘dirty’ sources – strange the way of greens..
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/apr/11/sdge-wind-farm-scaled-back-after-protests/
And when a California scientist strays off the eco-reservation…
starzmom:
when the utilities owned a great share of their generating stations they became so irritated by the envirionmentalists industrial regulations that they sold off the stations that they could to various operating companies to get rid of the hassles.
a while ago (during davis’s reign) california had a tremendous power shortage and it became apparent that from californias’ point of view this (allowing the generation capacity to leave the state) had been one of the major misteaks in californias history. it appears to have been a major contributer to davis’s impeachment.
we saw electric bills skyrocket with older generation plants sitting idle because they did not pass xxxx polution requirements, we saw schools shut down for the day because of lack of power, we saw hospitals not being allowed to use their own diesel generators because of environmental regulations ………
this brings rise to two questions:
1. why hasn’t our state legislature nullified a great number of these enabling regulations….
2. where in the he&& are the fruit flys in our time of need.
C
33%? That’s no challenge!
In 2020, the only power they’ll need will be one solar panel.
It will power the answering machine.
The answering machine will say; “you’ve reached the State of California. There’s no one here to take your call. If this is an emegergency . . .”
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html
Looks like CA power costs 47% more for industrial, 26% more for commercial, and 29% more for residential when compared to Texas.
If you are running a manufacturing operation (like a semiconductor fab, solar cell manufacturing …) and use a lot of electric power…the decision seems easy.
I would be a little more cautious to criticize Jerry Brown for what’s going on in California. The state is basically ungovernable, with entrenched incumbents in the State House and a supermajority rule for budget ratifications.
More than anything I would believe JB sees renewable energy as job creation. We need to get it done anyway, so why not now? Let’s hope nuclear is on the table before we become The Land Of The Giant Desk Fans.
Actually, Jerry Brown looks like the only adult in the room these days.
Are you guys really saying you miss Arnold?
It’s hard to outdo Jerry for radical stupidity, but I have read the Gov. of Texas was bragging about the alternative energy projects in his state.
Could it have been those wind turbines he is so proud of that caused the loss of electric capacity during an almost unprecedented cold snap in southern Texas?
These politicians who claim to be fiscal conservatives and then support huge TAX and RATE payer subsidies for ‘green technologies’ are the worse kind of hypocrites.
I’ll skip California AND Texas, thank you.
Today is Tax day; well it is for those few of us who actually ARE taxpayers (USA/Cal) style.
I was late to work today, as I had to stop by my Credit Union to get checks to send out to my favorite Uncle, and my favourite Moonbat. Well I don’t actually owe any taxes, as of today; in fact I already overpaid my taxes, for the 2010 Tax year.
No I am not getting a refund either. Uncle Sam is going to swallow my refund, as an estimated down payment on taxes I might owe later on, as a result of my still being a working stiff taxpayer, ten years after I should have retired on my lowly accumulated pension funds.
Well that (non) refund was not enough to satisfy my Uncle’s rapacious appetite for more slush fund money to pay out grants for people to look in mud for pollens, and bore holes in trees; but only on one side.
So this morning I cleaned out every one of the accounts at my Credit Union to make up the difference between my greedy Uncle’s demands, and the not inconsiderable overpayment from last year.
The only problem is that there wasn’t enough money in all of those accounts to satisfy the shortfall, so I had to borrow a considerable sum from the Credit Union. Well don’t worry, I only need it for about three days.
That’s how long it takes to clear the market transaction which last week sold a portion of my retirement account assets, in order to pay the taxes, on having sold those retirement account assets.
No I didn’t need those funds from my retirement account; as I said I have a full time salaried job.
But you see, my greedy Uncle demands that I must sell part of my retirement nest egg every year; whether I need the money or not. Well not only don’t I need the money from those retirement funds, but I don’t even get any money from those funds; because every last cent of the withdrawal, goes to my spendthrift Uncle in taxes; I get not a brass razoo out of the deal.
So if you are looking for me this afternoon, you need look no further than the local SJ TEA Party Tax rally, to tell our boy wonder Teleprompter Reader par excellence, that I really am T-axed E-nough A-lready.
Well I have gotten used to the routine; in June, I will have anouther Credit Union Cleanout, and another “retirement” fund selloff, to pay more taxes.
So no I am not amused by the antics of otherwise unemployed, and likely unemployable pseudo “scientists” who think that the taxpayers owe them a living pursuing non-productive enterprises.
A report this morning says that the total outstanding Student Loan debt, now exceeds ALL outstanding Credit Card debt; and that the vast majority of that Student loan debt is for “courses” that are quite unlikely to lead to ANY career that can earn enough money to EVER pay off that student loan debt.
Time to get real kiddies. Political “Science” and “Ethnic Studies” aka School of racism, may be fun for green yuppies; but how are you going to eat, without public (taxpayer) assistance ?
I live in California and my frustration level with the RETARDED BOZOS in Sacramento is unreal. I can only assume that they are so blinded by their own world of liberal/environmental ideology, that they refuse to see the real world.
“More than one in five (21%) of California small-business owners do not expect to be in business in California in three years, according to a recent survey by Small Business California, an advocacy group in San Francisco. …”
http://jan.ocregister.com/2011/03/08/are-calif-businesses-closing-or-leaving/55995/
When it comes to unemployment, California is #3 in the nation. We have a massive debt that is hanging over our heads and all the STUPID Democrats in Sacramento want to do is spend more money and raise taxes!!!
California is going down the toilet and the left is flushing as fast as they can.
The presidential position is so overrated it is ridiculous. All of America has been deceived into believing the only election that matters is the one for president. The reality is our lack of attention on our locally elected representatives has created “representative” bodies full of certifiable kooks bent on lifelong politicking and zero actual work to help the people. Most of these kooks are simply figureheads for their staffs of promoters and image consultants who do very little for our nation except suck up a salary and ensure they win again next term so they keep their job.
The most insidious part of it all is how the entire system of competing political interests convinces all of America that there are only two parties to vote for, and only the presidential race is worth caring about, even though the president is only supposed to be an executive and third parties are necessary to force politicians to at the very least abandon their tried-and-true well-choreographed political theater.
I simply don’t respect anyone who votes for one of the major parties, I can’t. These people are as deceived as any religious nut if they think they’re helping.