By Steve Goreham
Originally published in Washington Examiner.
More than a million Californians suffered power blackouts last Friday evening. When high temperatures caused customer demand to exceed the power available, California electrical utilities used rotating outages to force a reduction in demand. The California grid is the worst in the nation, with green energy policies pursued by the state likely furthering reduced grid reliability.
At 6:30 pm on Friday, Pacific Gas and Electric, California’s biggest utility, began shutting off power in rolling outages to force a reduction in demand. Southern California Edison also denied power to homes, beginning just before 7 pm. Shutoffs impacted a rotating group of up to two million customers until 11 pm.
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) declared a Stage 3 Electrical Emergency, the first Stage 3 emergency since 2001. Spot power electricity prices soared to over $1,000 per megawatt-hour, more than 10 times the usual price.
In 2018, 19 percent of California’s electricity came from roof-top and utility-scale solar installations, the highest percentage in the nation. But by 6:30 pm each day, that solar output approaches zero. The state lacks enough reliable electricity generation capacity to run the air conditioners during hot summer evenings.
California has the least reliable electrical power system in the US. It isn’t even close. According to data by Eaton Corporation, the state leads the US in power outages every year, with more than double the outages of any other state over the last decade.
The causes of power outages can be divided into four major groups, which in order of importance are weather or downed trees, faulty equipment or human errors, unknowns, and vehicle accidents. California suffered the largest number of outages in each category in each year for 2014 through 2017.
For more than a decade, California has been closing coal and nuclear power plants. Recently, the state also began closing natural gas-fired plants as part of a continuing effort to fight global warming.
In 2006, Senate Bill 1368 established California’s Emissions Performance Standard, an effort to reduce state greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Since 2007, 11 in-state, coal-fired plants have been closed as a result, with an additional 3 converted to biomass fuel. California also slashed imports of electricity generated from coal plants. The Argus Cogen plant in Trona is the last remaining coal plant.
California nuclear plants, though not emitters of greenhouse gases, are also being phased out. The second and third units of the San Onofre nuclear generating plant near Los Angeles ceased operation in 2013. The Diablo Canyon plant, the last nuclear plant in California, is scheduled for closure in 2025.
Driven by state efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, gas-fired plants are also being shuttered. Natural gas generating capacity has fallen by more than 10 percent since 2013, with additional reductions planned.
Following the blackouts last Friday night, blackouts resumed at 6:30 pm on Saturday. Power officials blamed the loss of 1,000 megawatts of wind power when the wind subsided and the unexpected shutdown of a 470-megawatt power plant. It’s clear that the state does not have enough reliable baseload power as backup for intermittent wind and solar energy.
The problem of California’s poor electric reliability will likely get worse. On September 10, 2018, then Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 100, committing California to obtain 100 percent of its electricity from “clean energy sources” by 2045. Replacement of coal, nuclear, and natural gas generators with wind and solar will continue erode grid reliability.
As part of global warming efforts, officials want all citizens to switch their natural gas stoves and furnaces to electric models. More than 30 California cities have enacted bans on gas appliances, including the major cities of San Francisco and San Jose. Almost 10 percent of the state population now lives in an area covered by restrictions against gas appliances in new residential construction.
California also wants residents to transition from gasoline- and diesel-powered cars and trucks to plug-in electric models. So, when those blackouts occur in the future, not only will your lights and air conditioners fail, but you won’t be able to cook your food or drive your car either.
California sacrificed reliable electrical power on the altar of the fight against global warming. There is no evidence that state efforts will have the slightest effect on global temperatures, but they will be great for candle and flashlight sales.
Steve Goreham is a speaker on the environment, business, and public policy and author of the book Outside the Green Box: Rethinking Sustainable Development.
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To date, no one has managed to produce a solar cell or windmill that produces more energy over its lifetime than was used to manufacture, maintain and recycle over its lifetime.
Like a snake eating its tail, the more green energy increases the cost of energy, the more it will cost to manufacture green energy. Ultimately wealth will be turned into poverty and pollution will be reduced as industrial production is reduced, similar to what happened with wuflu.
absolutely untrue.
A 2014 study which looked at this issue found that 2-megawatt wind turbines installed in Northwest USA paid for themselves in 5-6 months.
https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJSM.2014.062496
A 2010 analysis of fifty separate studies found that the average wind turbine, over the course of its operational life, generated 20 times more energy than it took to produce. This level was “favourable” in comparison to fossil fuels, nuclear and solar power.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S096014810900055X
I can cite numerous other studies showing wind turbines generate more energy in their lifetimes than is used to make, construct, operate and ultimately dismantle them
The point is Griff, is that the wind and solar infrastructure has to manufactured from fossil fuelled power sources, since we are usually processing raw ore and the same for the rare earth components that are required. Which usually takes metallurgical coal to process. Your estimate of a 6 month payback for New England wind farms is false however, since it doesn’t take into account many other variables such as new power lines and sub stations, including subsidies that distort this whole mess. Probably 10 years to a real payback if you count everything, even including the subsides if you have a good site and are lucky that nothing goes wrong. But the idea that wind and solar don’t create enough energy in their useful lifetime to replace themselves is also usually false, except for extremely poorly sited projects. That was taken out of context by some statements made to the effect that a poorly sited wind and solar site won’t create the energy to replace themselves. This myth is easily busted for better sited locations, although from a pure electricity production perspective, then electricity alone won’t manufacture these products from raw resources. It does take fossil fuels. It is important to be honest if we are to make statements that will stand the test of time. On both sides, and this is easily researched.
Yes – you can cite numerous self-serving studies and always do, and you have no interest in learning from replies.
Magically, only people serviced by privately run utilities are shut down. Sacramento being service by subsidized SMUD is exempt from blackouts. Hence, the politicians don’t really feel the pain they deal out to others.
Kinda “Blackouts for thee, but not for me.”
I was driving down Hwy 67 between Midlothian and Venus TX recently and noticed some strange looking construction so I did a bit of research. Google is building there (server farm I assume). Guess what is close to the site. A 1.7 GW natural gas power plant. Green Google!!
I’ll wager they will purchase some type of offsets and claim they only use renewable energy.
So, what exactly is the point of all those solar panels and wind generators?
Out here in the Mojave Desert, not too far from Trona, I can say the wind is basically nonexistent, which is why it’s hot and demand from A/C is high. Those hot periods also tend to be really CALM.
The Argus cogen plant in Trona is not going anywhere, not ever. There is no demand to extend a big enough natural gas pipeline through the Trona valley to supply a natural gas boiler, and the heat is used to evaporate groundwater to produce trona and borax from brine. The train tracks are already there to take product out, socthey can bring coal in just as easily. And the Trona valley is in an ozone and PM attainment area, so there are no prohibitory air quality rules that could regulate it out of business.
The chickens are coming home to roost.
Oops , the chicken came home to roast….
.. at the Ivanpah Solar Farm.
“Finger lick’n good!”
GENERAC dealers in California must be ecstatic
Heat wave. No air conditioning. Democrat ghetto neighborhoods already being encouraged to riot, loot, and burn.
All the jerry cans have been emptied – they’re only waiting for a match.
When can I charge my Tesla?
Well you aren’t going to work in the morning are you 🙂
I suppose when I go visit my family still stuck in Commifornia I had better take my portable generator along! I used to use it for construction on primitive or undeveloped job sites; I guess the whole state falls in that category now on hot and/or windy days.
After living in an open/carry state for eight years now, it feels weird going to someplace where I have to leave all the guns at home. Especially someplace that seems to have such a high concentration of the criminally insane like Sacramento, SF or LA! They’re getting to the point of rivaling Washington, D.C.!
At least the obvious face plant that we are all witnessing may slow down or prevent other states and the federal government from following Calizuela off the cliff of unreliable wind and solar power!
Ideology uber alles!
I think the solution is segregation
If you truly believe in green energy you live in community A
If you think it’s BS and like reliable power you live in a B community
Rolling blackouts only affect the A communities
They can be the A-holes, with no power
Easy to sectionalize and isolate at that level
Home by home not possible
“… will be great for candle and flashlight sales.”
https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Top-fire-causes/Candles
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
A power blackout in summer lasting 3 days will destroy the food supply. Two days later total anarchy, marauding gangs grabbing whatever is still edible. Three days later civil war. Then, when the non-wokes have won, the long slog of recovery will begin.
And those clowns think ‘climate change’ is a problem. They have no idea.
We need 100 times more wind turbines at the moment in Denmark:
Date Time CEST 2020-08-19 10:00
Base power stations 0.72 GW 16%
Off shore Wind 0.01 GW 0%
On shore Wind 0.05 GW 1%
Total Wind 0.06 GW 1%
Solar power 0.40 GW 9%
Import – Export 3.46 GW 75%
Consumption 4.63 GW 100%
This has been the picture for most of the last 14 days now.
Will Denmark go down the drain like California, when the Dutch, the Germans and the Norwegians can no longer keep up afloat?
I remember the good old days, when rolling blackouts only happened in emergencies. Now, in South Australia, they happen every year.
But you never hear about it on the MSM, especially not the ABC or SBS unless they can spin it as a result of failure of thermal generators – it’s never the fault of wind or solar intermittency.
See how high up North Carolina is on that list?
I’m sure Duke Energy has all kinds of excuses for why that’s so. But as a customer I can tell you it’s because they’re committed to “climate justice” and other such nonsense, not because they’re trying to construct a reliable grid. How do I know? They tell me on a regular basis via email, snail mailers, and other advertisements.
Won’t be long until we start catching California.
It would be interesting to see how much of California’s performance is due solely to PG & E.
I was in Oxnard CA for the 2001 rolling blackouts in CA. My area was not shut down but the areas that were experienced traffic gridlock fairly quickly because the traffic lights stopped working. Only a few crashes in a few intersections were required to bring all traffic to a halt. No need to worry about charging your battery powered car with gridlock also no gasoline can be pumped without electricity.
Even in the the film “The green mile”, there was a working electric chair…
There’s an old saying: each “state” has the government it deserves…
There’s an easy way out: don’t vote for the Democrats or greens any more.
The Obama EPA and others have calculated the result of the reducing the entire US to zero carbon dioxide as hundreds of a degree reduction in temperature. This was revealed to the US congress by the Obama EPA. That’s because the US emits an insignificant amount of the global carbon dioxide. So all this is for nothing!
CA is managing energy and electricity the same way Jerry Brown managed CA Freeways. Simply do not build any more new Freeways. Don’t widen the Freeways. Don’t maintain the Freeways. As a result … so Jerry thought … Californians would stop driving their cars and take a bus. Yes, that policy is ludicrously insane … and 100% wrong. But it was Jerry’s plan.
And now that asinine “plan” of Jerry’s has made it to energy and electricity. If CA takes away Energy and electricity … then people will conserve … and use less. Every day for the last week, PG&E has threatened to shut off my power! PG&E has sent a WARNING! email saying if I used “too much” energy … they’d have no choice but blackout. Then … when they didn’t shut off my electricity … they sent me a “congratulatory” email saying … “because you conserved electricity, we didn’t have to shut OFF your electricity!”. I have received EACH of these two emails every single day for a week.
I’d like to send PG&E, the PUC, and Gavin Newsom an email of my own … “build MORE gawddamnned POWER plants!” Californians deserve CHEAP, PLENTIFUL, energy … nothing less.
A couple of papers, one new, one I had not seen previously:
Hydroxychloroquin ineffective for COVID-19
prophylaxis in lupus and rheumatoid arthritis
https://ard.bmj.com/content/annrheumdis/early/2020/08/05/annrheumdis-2020-218500.full.pdf
Observational study identifies drug that improves survival in sickest COVID-19 patients
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/hmh-osi081820.php
And another from Mayo clinic:
Mayo Clinic study suggests plasma treatment reduces COVID-19 deaths
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/08/18/mayo-clinic-study-plasma-coronavirus-treatment/3384032001/
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.12.20099879v1.full.pdf
Sorry, wrong thread.
My bad!