Solar on the WEIM market [1][2], which (given more and more utilities joining) is more and more of the actual interconnected infrastructure within the WECC [3]

Solar on the WEIM market [1][2], which (given more and more utilities joining) is more and more of the actual interconnected infrastructure within the WECC [3] -- including plants down south in CA, AZ, NV, NM. The scenario to envision is that there will be times when solar is cheap enough to buy on the market that a hydro-heavy utility can ''reduce'' hydro generation during the day, and timeshift that same generation into later hours when solar drops off to sell it for profit. A solar- or natgas-heavy, hydro-poor utility (e.g. San Diego Gas & Electric [5], NV Energy [6][7]) can't do the same, they have to invest in storage, buy power from elsewhere (where the exact source is abstracted away), or spin up more natgas at peak times. The latter two are the most popular solutions now, but regulations in California are now forcing [4] the first issue in CA. [1] https://www.powermag.com/how-does-the-western-energy-imbalance-market-work/ https://www.powermag.com/how-does-the-western-energy-imbalan... [2] https://www.westerneim.com/ https://www.westerneim.com/ [3] https://www.wecc.org/ https://www.wecc.org/ [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16560856 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16560856 [5] https://sites.uci.edu/energyobserver/2018/12/28/comparison-of-california-utilities-power-sources-for-2017/ https://sites.uci.edu/energyobserver/2018/12/28/comparison-o... [6] https://www.nvenergy.com/about-nvenergy/our-company/power-supply https://www.nvenergy.com/about-nvenergy/our-company/power-su... [7] https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=NV https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=NV