On Friday, California energy officially reportedly said that the state’s electrical grid has insufficient capacity to keep the lights on over the summer if there are heatwaves or wildfires. The news comes as the state continues to push an aggressive transition away from fossil fuels, which resulted in rolling blackouts during a heatwave in the summer of 2020.
“California has among the most aggressive climate change policies in the world, including a goal of producing all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045,” Reuters reported. “In an online briefing with reporters, the officials forecast a potential shortfall of 1,700 megawatts this year, a number that could go as high as 5,000 MW if the grid is taxed by multiple challenges that reduce available power while sending demand soaring, state officials said during an online briefing with reporters.”
“Supply gaps along those lines could leave between 1 million and 4 million people without power. Outages will only happen under extreme conditions, officials cautioned, and will depend in part on the success of conservation measures,” Reuters added. “In 2025, the state will still have a capacity shortfall of about 1,800 MW, according to officials from the California Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission, California Independent System Operator and Newsom’s office. They also projected annual electricity rate increases of between 4% and 9% between now and 2025.”
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the worsening problem of electricity shortages throughout the United States is occurring as “traditional power plants are being retired more quickly than they can be replaced by renewable energy and battery storage. Power grids are feeling the strain as the U.S. makes a historic transition from conventional power plants fueled by coal and natural gas to cleaner forms of energy such as wind and solar power, and aging nuclear plants are slated for retirement in many parts of the country.”
“The challenge is that wind and solar farms—which are among the cheapest forms of power generation—don’t produce electricity at all times and need large batteries to store their output for later use,” the report added. “While a large amount of battery storage is under development, regional grid operators have lately warned that the pace may not be fast enough to offset the closures of traditional power plants that can work around the clock.”
