![]() Power officials blamed the loss of 1,000 megawatts of wind power when the wind subsided and the unexpected shutdown of a 470-megawatt power plant. Natural gas generating capacity has fallen by more than 10 percent since 2013, with additional reductions planned.įollowing the blackouts last Friday night, blackouts resumed at 6:30 pm on Saturday. The Diablo Canyon plant, the last nuclear plant in California, is scheduled for closure in 2025.ĭriven by state efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, gas-fired plants are also being shuttered. The second and third units of the San Onofre nuclear generating plant near Los Angeles ceased operation in 2013. The Argus Cogen plant in Trona is the last remaining coal plant.Ĭalifornia nuclear plants, though not emitters of greenhouse gases, are also being phased out. California also slashed imports of electricity generated from coal plants. Since 2007, 11 in-state, coal-fired plants have been closed as a result, with an additional 3 converted to biomass fuel. In 2006, Senate Bill 1368 established California’s Emissions Performance Standard, an effort to reduce state greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. ![]() Recently, the state also began closing natural gas-fired plants as part of a continuing effort to fight global warming. ![]() California suffered the largest number of outages in each category in each year for 2014 through 2017.įor more than a decade, California has been closing coal and nuclear power plants. The causes of power outages can be divided into four major groups, which in order of importance are weather or downed trees, faulty equipment or human errors, unknowns, and vehicle accidents. According to data by Eaton Corporation, the state leads the US in power outages every year, with more than double the outages of any other state over the last decade. The state lacks enough reliable electricity generation capacity to run the air conditioners during hot summer evenings.Ĭalifornia has the least reliable electrical power system in the US. But by 6:30 pm each day, that solar output approaches zero. In 2018, 19 percent of California’s electricity came from roof-top and utility-scale solar installations, the highest percentage in the nation. Spot power electricity prices soared to over $1,000 per megawatt-hour, more than 10 times the usual price. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) declared a Stage 3 Electrical Emergency, the first Stage 3 emergency since 2001. Shutoffs impacted a rotating group of up to two million customers until 11 pm. Southern California Edison also denied power to homes, beginning just before 7 pm. The California grid is the worst in the nation, with green energy policies pursued by the state likely furthering reduced grid reliability.Īt 6:30 pm on Friday, Pacific Gas and Electric, California’s biggest utility, began shutting off power in rolling outages to force a reduction in demand. When high temperatures caused customer demand to exceed the power available, California electrical utilities used rotating outages to force a reduction in demand. More than a million Californians suffered power blackouts last Friday evening. Green California Has the Nation’s Worst Power Grid Here’s a couple of primers on what happens when brazen ideology trumps sound engineering. Oh, and for those who think this might be novel or unique, you can always trawl our archives on Australia’s blackout capital, the equally wind and solar obsessed South Australia: Déjà Vu (All Over Again): Yet Another Wind Power Output Collapse Plunges 200,000 South Australian Homes into the Dark Ages ![]() ![]() Like clockwork, wind power output collapsed just as the summer heat and demand for electricity rose – leaving a million or more Californians sweltering in the dark.Īnyone wondering what an all wind and sun powered future might look like need look no further than the debacle that is California. In a ‘don’t say we told you so moment’, wind and solar obsessed California has just suffered another run of weather induced mass blackouts. ![]()
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