Trouble In Paradise -- How's That Renewable Energy Working Out? -- March 23, 2018

Inquiring minds want to know:

• why is the California PUC not directing solar energy companies to start storing solar energy to prepare for this summer's grid demands?
• why is Governor Moonbeam not asking the sun to extend its summer hours?
• why is the California PUC not directing wind turbines to start spinning faster in anticipation of grid demands this summer?
• where is Elon Musk when you really need him?
• where are those batteries?

The EIA graphic that leads to those questions:

From Forbes, 2016:

Besides having the most expensive electricity west of the Mississippi River in the continental U.S., California already has the least reliable electricity. California easily leads the nation with nearly 470 power outages a year, compared to 160 for second place Texas, which is really amazing because Texas produces 125% MORE electricity! California's reliability problems will be multiplied as more wind and solar enter the power mix, intermittent resources located in remote areas that cannot be so easily transported to cities via the grid.

It's crucial to remember that drought and less hydropower available in the Northwest was a determining factor in California's "2000-2001 Power Crisis" that cost the state $50 billion in added energy costs, illustrating the problems of California's over-reliance on outside energy (California also unsustainably imports over 90% of its natural gas, the nation's fastest growing major fuel, and the source that other states will increasingly lean upon most to meet the Clean Power Plan).

For the archives. It's March. Three months to June.