California electricity problems and threat of power outage sparks anger over renewable transition

Conservation measures helped avert power outages in California on Tuesday, as a scorching heat wave stressed the state’s electrical system to a level not seen in two decades.

But the Golden State’s recent electricity problems have drawn anger and a new focus on increased reliance on renewables and gaps in storage capacity for an event like record heat.

The California Independent System Operator (ISO), which handles most of the state’s electricity flow, had warned that many homes and businesses could be affected by late afternoon before lifting a declaration of emergency before 8 p.m., Tweeter “We did it!”

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ISO said the high production and conservation of wind power helps keep electricity flowing, but another Flex alert is in place Wednesday as the triple-digit heat continues.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, who declared a statewide emergency on Tuesday due to the heat and 30 large state-wide wildfires, said California was in the “critical period of 48. hours “with power consumption.

On Monday, Newsom ordered an investigation into the outages that occurred on Friday and Saturday.

“We are doing everything in our power to understand the root causes,” said the governor.

But Republican Assembly Jim Patterson of Fresno, vice chairman of the Utilities and Energy Committee, said on Monday that the state’s lower reliance on natural gas had fueled recent unrest.

“I have repeatedly warned that policies emanating from the Democratic-controlled legislature and board of governors create the conditions for blackouts and brownouts and here we see the evidence,” Patterson said. at FOX26 News.

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Last September, officials at an ISO governing board meeting warned that electricity shortages were possible during a short-term heat wave due to the switch to renewable sources like power. solar and wind that are less reliable.

As California depends on large solar farms, Mark Rothleder, ISO vice president for market quality and state regulatory affairs, warned that demand for energy increases during heat waves around 5pm when people come home from work, just as the sun begins to set and the sun begins to set. power is starting to wane, The Mercury News reported.

ISO could usually import electricity from other states to make up for the loss of solar energy, but a large heat wave affecting multiple states would mean there wouldn’t be enough energy to circulate.

California’s ISO has struggled to reduce demand for electricity since Friday, when it issued the first blackouts in nearly 20 years.

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The three largest utilities – Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric – cut power to more than 410,000 homes and businesses for about an hour at a time until the emergency declaration. ends three and a half hours later. A second, but shorter outage hit Saturday night, affecting more than 200,000 customers.

Teleprinter	security	Latest	Change	Change%
PCG	PG&E CORP.	9.36	+0.19	+ 2.07%
SEA	ENERGY SEMPRA	129.36	-0.32	-0.25%

Newsom, at a press conference on Monday, said there were gaps in the “reliability” of power as utilities continued to shift from natural gas plants to renewables.

“Our storage capacity in particular … needs to be drastically improved,” said the governor, “but I am confident in our ability to cope with it.”

Newsom said the state “cannot sacrifice reliability” in the future.

“We have failed to predict and plan for these shortages. And that is simply unacceptable,” the governor said.

In a call to reporters on Monday, ISO CEO Steve Berberich said “renewables are really not a factor” behind the recent blackouts, but also stressed the need for a better storage, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“It’s just a matter of gross capacity,” he said while calling for “a fairly extensive deployment of batteries” and “over-construction” of more renewables.

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Jan Smutny Jones, CEO of the Independent Energy Producers Association, told Mercury News that keeping power plants on gas until battery storage is increased is what is needed, like an insurance policy.

“Some members of the environmental community want to shut down all gas plants,” he told the newspaper. “It would be a disaster.”

President Trump taken to twitter Tuesday night to blame Democrats for the recent power cuts, saying they “have intentionally implemented continual blackouts – forcing Americans into obscurity. Democrats are unable to meet demand for energy. “

“During this time, I gave America energy independence in fact, so much energy that we could never use it all,” he added without giving any evidence. “The Bernie / Biden / AOC Green New Deal plan would bring California’s failed policies to all Americans!”

Patterson told FOX26 that recent problems have shown that “you can’t run” the world’s fifth largest economy with wind and solar power alone.

“The governor says he wants an investigation. We don’t need an investigation. What we need is more electricity available when we need it, and that means restarting natural gas plants “Patterson said. “We need more electricity. Simple and clear.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.