Does California still have rolling blackouts? (Los Angeles, Sacramento: lease, appliances, prices)

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by 509

Really no information on WHY??

We have to dig for it, apparently. They must really want us to believe that it's all because of our overuse of electricity.

"....the underlying reasons that California is experiencing rolling black-outs for the second time in less than a year stem from the state’s climate policies, which California policymakers have justified as necessary to prevent deaths from heatwaves.

In October, Pacific Gas and Electric cut off power to homes across California to avoid starting forest fires. The utility and California’s leaders had over the previous decade diverted billions meant for grid maintenance to renewables.

And yesterday, California had to impose rolling blackouts because it had failed to maintain sufficient reliable power from natural gas and nuclear plants, or pay in advance for enough guaranteed electricity imports from other states.

It may be that California’s utilities and their regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, which is also controlled by Gov. Newsom, didn’t want to spend the extra money to guarantee the additional electricity out of fears of raising California’s electricity prices even more than they had already raised them.

California saw its electricity prices rise six times more than the rest of the United States from 2011 to 2019, due to its huge expansion of renewables. Republicans in the U.S. Congress point to that massive increase to challenge justifications by Democrats to spend $2 trillion on renewables in the name of climate change.

Even though the cost of solar panels declined dramatically between 2011 and 2019, their unreliable and weather-dependent nature meant that they imposed large new costs in the form of storage and transmission to keep electricity as reliable...

The two blackouts in less than a year are strong evidence that the tens of billions that Californians have spent on renewables come with high human, economic, and environmental costs."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michael.../#25150bc51591

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by Mike930

Does this happen to any other state? I google it and all that comes up is California.

Too many people and not enough power to accommodate everyone during extreme use. California likes to boast they are the most advanced but the evidence proves to the contrary when faced with a challenge.

For instance the current situation with distance learning. Some companies aren't supplying enough bandwidth to accommodate all the people in need of it for online education. Again, showing the inadequacies within the state. Maybe it's time for them to shut up and stop boasting about how great the state is and start working on having enough services that will serve everyone when they need it. When they do that, then they can pat themselves on the back. It's ridiculous.

[Starbar]

I still remember the energy crisis of the early 2000s and our power going out a lot in SoCal. I was 6/7 at the time, it really scared me sometimes.

[alliance]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

Too many people and not enough power to accommodate everyone during extreme use. California likes to boast they are the most advanced but the evidence proves to the contrary when faced with a challenge.

For instance the current situation with distance learning. Some companies aren't supplying enough bandwidth to accommodate all the people in need of it for online education. Again, showing the inadequacies within the state. Maybe it's time for them to shut up and stop boasting about how great the state is and start working on having enough services that will serve everyone when they need it. When they do that, then they can pat themselves on the back. It's ridiculous.

That’s just silly talk. It’s obviously trumps fault.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by alliance

That’s just silly talk. It’s obviously trumps fault.

I know you're only teasing.

[alliance]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

I know you're only teasing.

Everything bad happening right now (including a fair amount from the past as well as many things going forward) is trumps fault. Our fearless leaders in California are doing everything they can to fight back against his tyranny, and the only solution to all of our problems is to vote him out. Just you wait, when he leaves all our problems will vanish and good times will be here again.

And yes, tongue in cheek, but literally what you can hear from many people in the Bay Area...

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by alliance

And yes, tongue in cheek, but literally what you can hear from many people in the Bay Area...

Yes, I am well acquainted with the thought process of BA people. An interesting bunch, I must say.

[509]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

Yes, I am well acquainted with the thought process of BA people. An interesting bunch, I must say.

People are people no matter where they live.


I remember attending UC Berkeley during the early 1970's in my early 20's and finally coming to the realization that this was NUTS.


The way you boil a frog.....well you know the rest of the story.


That is what is happening in California. Bad change, coming at a slow pace gets people to accept it as NORMAL. Blackouts are NORMAL in California, but not in the rest of the US.


I left California in Jan. 1978. Came back at infrequent intervals and was aghast at the the changes each time I returned.



Surely, this couldn't go on!!! But is has and probably will.


A wonderful state....that shinning city on hill that President Reagan talked about was California. It is shame....socially, economically, ecologically and every other measurement of makes good place to live has gone downhill.


The weather is still good. The politicians can't change that.

[Steve40th]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Since this was originally posted, R.I.P. SONGS. We could use your capacity, but the powers that be in CA are afraid to build power plants.

The San Onofre nuclear power plant was 2 GW of 24 hour base load power at less than $0.04/kWh. The shutdown was not due to economics, but due to political blunders and lobby efforts. The technical problem was failed cooling condensers, special untested high efficiency condensers the California Energy Commission (CEC) demanded to be installed. When one of the condensers failed (leaked uncontaminated sea water), the manufacturer (Mitsubishi) offered to pay for the replacement (@ $300 million). The CEC said no, and stated that both generating station condenser systems would need replacement. The manufacturer stepped up and offered to pay for both condenser systems to be replaced (@ $450 million). The CEC then claimed they did not want, or trust, the high efficiency condenser systems that they demanded for the earlier retrofit. The manufacturer stepped up again and offered numerous condenser options, including the original 30 year proven design, for no cost to the Utility or rate payers. The CEC again rejected the offer. The CEC instead voted to mothball the generator plants at a rate payer cost of $500 million.

The cost to society from the 2 GW loss on the grid was rolling blackouts, but the CEC didn't end the financial impact. The CEC solution to the blackouts was to offer rebate incentives to retrofit high efficiency lighting and air conditioning, a $1 billion rebate program paid by rate payers, to lower the state base load demand by the lost 2 GW. This incentive was followed by an additional $500 million rebate program that added maintenance cost rebates to keep the new high efficiency systems in operation.

If you followed the financial options, the CEC could have had the 2 GW of 24 hour power restored for (almost) no cost. Instead they charged ratepayers over $2 billion in shutdown and conservation incentives to offset the lost baseline power. The conservation incentives never achieved the 2 GW goal because the rebates funded more new A/C system installations in previously unconditioned buildings than expected (the CEC expected none, zero). The CEC plan failed the public, and the rate payers (public still pay the bills).

The final option, knowing the past base load power or mediation funds will never be recovered and the state needs the power, is to retrofit and modernize San Onofre and restore the 2 GW of power. The site cannot be used for anything else, and the radioactive materials (fuel and waste) are still stored on-site. The refit/modernization retrofit is estimated to cost another $1.2 to $2.5 billion dollars (or double that if new regulations come up). This may sound like a lot of money, but it is likely to be the least expensive 2 GW solution offered this century.
Poor Leadership in California causes crap like this. Whether you like it or not, Nuclear Powerplants in the USA are pretty darn secure.

[sav858]

Rolling Blackouts in California Have Power Experts Stumped

“They set it up like this is a historic event,” said Bill Powers, a San Diego engineer who provides expert testimony on utility matters before the state’s regulators. “This should not have triggered blackouts.”


Energy experts noted that the peak electricity use over the weekend fell below peaks in other years, when utilities were able to handle the demand. They also said the operating reserves of power available to the utilities were higher than the 3% level where California ISO has traditionally ordered a reduction in electricity use.

I thought it was odd given how many indoor businesses are closed in the state. Something weird is going on and crap like this is why a lot of people are skeptical of govt. They want us to stay home yet institute rolling blackouts during a heatwave despite not meeting the threshold for it???? Make no sense at all.

Has Newsom even said anything about the blackouts yet?