California Energy

This is simply some housekeeping.

Updates

January 2, 2015: look west; long review; if there is a future for Bakken CBR to California

October 7, 2014:  only 1% of California's crude oil supply moves by rail; there are no crude oil pipelines running into the state; and, Alaskan supplies are dwindling.

At the end of the day, adult leadership will be needed. If not, California is in a world of hurt.

October 4, 2014: something to return to in 2018 --

Compounding the loss of SONGS is the impending closure of up to 5,068 megawatts of gas-fired plants in the local area that rely on once-through cooling using seawater. These plants must comply with water regulations that practically eliminate the use of seawater for cooling by 2017 to 2020.

Original Post

 

I originally posted this October 22, 2013:

RBN Energy: California natural gas demand in the state's post-nuclear era.

The June 2013 decision by Southern California Edison (SCE) to permanently shut down its San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station (SONGS)—the largest power generator in the region—got the attention of the natural gas industry, and for good reason.  Natural gas interests view gas-fired generation as the logical replacement for the now-gone 2,200 MW nuclear capacity, but many other forces are at work. In this two-part series we examine southern California’s electricity cunundrum, and how big a part natural gas is likely to play in keeping the lights and air conditioning on and the pool pumps pumping.

The two-unit, 2,200-MW SONGS facility for years was a linchpin in the region’s electric grid. A relatively low-cost, around-the-clock generator at a pivotal location, San Onofre provided critical voltage support—an electrical engineer’s way of saying it kept the grid on an even keel. Natural gas interests expect SONGS capacity to be replaced by gas fired generation. And gas will surely have a significant role in the electricity future of the Los Angeles Basin, San Diego, and California as a whole. But because of state policies and Federal rules, among other things, utilities and merchant power companies may well end up consuming less gas than they do now, and commercial and industrial firms may use more.