Posted on 06/21/2019 1:35:46 AM PDT by metmom
An “avian incident” sparked a fire at one of California’s biggest solar farms, affecting 1,200 acres and knocking out 84% of the California Valley Solar Ranch’s generating capacity.
The June 5 incident didn’t damage solar panels at the 250-megawatt power plant, but distribution poles and cables need to be replaced, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday from owner Clearway Energy Inc. The company didn’t say exactly how the blaze was ignited.
“We are pleased that in the aftermath of the fire at California Valley Solar Ranch, our team and first responders were able to ensure the safety of the surrounding community, our employees, and fire officials,” the company said by email. “While fires remain an unfortunate and growing reality in California and across the west, incidents such as these give us continued confidence in our risk prevention and mitigation plans.”
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
With no back up for incidents like this.
Sure, green energy is so reliable.
PG&E in northern CA is conducting black outs during high wind because that way their electrical lines won’t cause wild fires.
Nothing but idiots running the government in CA.
Black outs for Californians because environmentalists in state government block clearing of vegetation around power lines and the updating of old, decaying power line infrastructure.
At some point (beyond 2030), most Californians will be used to twenty hours per month being normal for total black-outs (over the whole month). Everyone will have portable generators in the garage and burn at least 20 gallons of gas to support their marginalized electricity. But they won’t be able to find anyone to blame for this third-world service.
This is evidence that California is quickly sinking to third world status. Soon those who are left will be rubbing two sticks together to stay warm.
Yeah, we are going to have 115 F temps this summer and the electric co will just shut off our power and leave us helpless “to prevent fires” (to prevent lawsuits against them). Imagine, all our freezers full of food gone, our elderly and babies getting sick from the heat, etc.
For the illegals and homeless, being in CA is a net gain for their life efforts. For hard working middle class, CA is a definite net loss.
California is for the birds.
PG&E has to do something. If you have an answer call your new Gov.
I understand, my entire family lives in northern CA and they can’t stand their own gov’t.
Giving illegal aliens from the ages of 19-25 has really set them off.
But CA just keeps voting them in.
Nothing but idiots running the government in CA.
>
Yes, but it is not just California.
“Deregulation” of electricity was a fad in government in the 1990s. Thing is that it was not really true deregulation. It was deregulation of generation but not distribution.
Without going into a lot of detail it led to pricing of electricity so low that what was common maintenance of transmission lines right of ways became a thing that was neglected as a cost saving measure.
The picture above is how a transmission line right of way should be maintained. But that has become the exception. With the forest growth kept down away from the lines, line sag caused by higher demand during heat waves can be tolerated and wind does not propose a danger of fires.
But lower electricity prices enforced by government means that such maintenance can not be afforded when you are talking about transmission lines that stretch through hundreds of miles of wooded mountainsides.
Why did CA gov’t let them do it? Just to keep rates low? They are still responsible.
I don’t really know.
Just a guess, but my experience with government tells me that they didn’t care until the fires started and they really didn’t care some more because after the first fires by in the early 2000s and huge outages they really didn’t do anything.
Yes, they are still responsible, but they still have to run a giant company and they still have to make a profit under the system that government has mandated.
Under the old regulation electric utilities would tell the government what kind of rates they needed to charge to run the company at a reasonable profit. This allowed to the utility to do all maintenance to necessary to provide safe reliable power. The government got to check their books to ensure that the company was not gouging the customer and permitted the rates.
Now with the new regs outside power producers are permitted access to the utility lines at unfair rates and are permitted to produce power that can cause issues with the transmission of power. The new rate system puts the old utilities at a disadvantage to the new power producers and makes it impossible to run the system in the old ways and make a profit.
Do you really think Newsome in his multi million dollar home in Citrus Heights gives a rip about the black outs because Dem controlled state gov’t in CA can’t get it done?
Newsome is too busy giving illegal aliens free and instate college tuition rates and free health care.
Why do Lefties think it is great for Iran to use nuclear power for energy but oppose it in the US?
One online told “because Israel has missiles”.
And that is an Obamunist for ya.
“An “avian incident” sparked a fire at one of California’s biggest solar farms, affecting 1,200 acres and knocking out 84% of the California Valley Solar Ranch’s generating capacity.”
Bravo Governor Newsome. You hit the leftist unintended consequence trifecta. Fire causes global warmimg, bird deaths is a PETA nightmare and another single point of failure for alternative energy.
Solar kills a lot of critters. Green nazis couldn’t care less
Birds fly over solar panels and are incinerated. It must have been a large bird.
Solar panels on individual homes?
California is going the way of Argentina.
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