Posted on 08/17/2020 2:11:44 AM PDT by karpov
Electricity blackouts are awful at any time, but especially during an extreme heat wave and for reasons that are man-made. That’s what millions in California have been enduring in recent days, and their plight is a warning to the rest of America about the risks of Green New Deal policies.
The California Independent System Operator (Caiso), which manages the state’s power grid, declared a high-level emergency Friday and Saturday evenings and ordered utilities to reduce power usage. California and most of the southwestern U.S. are experiencing a severe heat wave. But other states are managing to keep power flowing. Why can’t California?
California last experienced rolling blackouts in 2001 amid energy market manipulation by speculators. This time the cause is energy market manipulation by anti-fossil fuel politicians. Democrats have mandated that renewables account for 60% of state electricity by 2030, which has forced power providers to invest in renewable energy sources now to meet the deadline. The result is something of a Rube Goldberg physics experiment.
During peak daylight hours, California produces a surplus of solar energy, and power generators may be ordered or paid to cut back their production so the grid isn’t overloaded. On Friday and Saturday Caiso reported about 1,000 mega-watt hours (MWh) were curtailed—enough to power 30,000 homes. This year 1.3 million MWh of power have been curtailed.
But this means supply shortages can occur in the evening when solar energy plunges but demand for power remains high. That’s what happened this weekend. Many natural gas and nuclear plants that can generate power 24/7 have shut down in recent years because they can’t compete with heavily subsidized green energy. A 10-year-old natural gas power plant in California’s Inland Empire is being decommissioned this year—20 to 30 years earlier than its planned lifespan.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
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Csn’t help with that.
But pointing out China’s markets are doing great on such news.;
Build nuclear power plants.
Problem Solved.
If we could achieve 100% efficiency a 1sq meter solar panel could just barely power one hair dryer. It would take 3sq meters to power a stove. Since at best we are at 20% efficiency it would take 5 times that amount. You would also need massive amounts of batteries for backup during night and cloudy days. Then you lose more power when the solar panels are needed to recharge the batteries
Texas Luring Jobs Away From California With Promises Of Electricity
https://babylonbee.com/news/texas-luring-jobs-away-from-california-with-promises-of-electricity
Unexpectedly! Again, socialism/communism is government by stupid people.
JoMa
But you could dry your hair by sticking your head in the oven. Can't do that with natural gas, now can you. /s
One single nuke plant built since 2000....2016, Watt’s Bar #2 in Tenn. After that, it was 1996 when another plant was built (Watt’s Bar #1). The TVA folks are about the only ones with any ‘gut’ to go and do this.
NYS has a different solution.
Prices so high enough of the population and biz leave to lessen demand.
Talk about a Hobson’s Choice.
Let’s hear it for ‘Rats and RINOs run utopias!
There is not an electricity shortage, only a shortage of resolve from leaders to utilize the utility.
Nuclear power plant construction costs around $8,000 per kwh these days, not including the huge future deconstruction costs. Solar is around $3,000 and natural gas combined cycle is about $614. Because of horizontal fracking technology there's a huge supply natural gas in the USA these days. Sometimes producers will pay to have it taken off their hands.
“”Sometimes producers will pay to have it taken off their hands.””
Tap the brakes! I can’t think of one reason for me as a producer or any other producers to pay to have it taken off out hands. Now I will flare it or vent it but to pay someone to take it off my hands is a ridiculous comment. Never in 40 years!
Permian natural gas benchmark Waha revisited negative territory for the third time this month, with a settle of minus $4.74/MMBtu for Tuesday’s gas day. Negative supply prices aren’t new to Permian producers, at least for gas — Waha settled as low as minus-$5.75/MMBtu in early April 2019.
“If we could achieve 100% efficiency a 1sq meter solar panel could just barely power one hair dryer.”
Not even, since the best we do on Earth is 1000W per sq-meter. So 1.5 sq-meters (or a bit more, with the newer models of hair dryers), and, as you say that’s at 100%, so 7.5 to 8 square meters.
I read an article, back before all the climate nonsense got rolling.
The piece spoke to the history of California homes.
The homes were constructed with thick stone/concrete walls.
The wall material absorbed heat during the day, and released that heat at night.
When the sun shines, AC draw is delayed as the cool wall material keeps homes cool.
If the evening temperature is too high, you may need AC to cool your home. Of course, the sun has set.
The dopes in rio linda picked the wrong fuel source to cool their homes
“ Now I will flare it or vent it but to pay someone to take it off my hands is a ridiculous comment. Never in 40 years!”
Your problem is using common sense and logic. The Democrats want to force you to act in ways that are counterproductive, such as regulating you in such a way to force you to “sell” it....even if there’s no buyer.
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