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> And here's where a turn to renewables, solar and others would be helpful because you can afford to turn off the long-range transmission and rely on locally ge

> And here's where a turn to renewables, solar and others would be helpful because you can afford to turn off the long-range transmission and rely on locally generated power. Isn’t California actually relying increasingly on buying power from other states⁰ (even all the way from Utah) because of the inherent unreliability of renewables (which caused blackouts recently when they and their fossil fuel backups¹ failed in hot weather)? Edits: Sources: [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_California says "2018 Total System Electric Generation". California Energy Commission. Retrieved 2020-08-27. "Source: CEC-1304 Power Plant Owners Reporting Form and SB 1305 Reporting Regulations. In-state generation is reported generation from units one megawatt and larger. Data as of June 24, 2019 ... In 2018, total generation for California was 285,488 gigawatt-hours (GWh), ... in-state generation dropped by 6 percent (11,494 GWh) to 194,842 GWh. ... Net imports increased by 6 percent (4,944 GWh) to 90,648 GWh," (emphasis added), and the change seems to have been happening for a while: https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2016/04/03/californias-growing-imported-electricity-problem/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2016/04/03/califor... https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/fossil-fuels/coal/californias-hidden-coal-use/ https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/fossil-fuels/coal... [1] Which seem likely to be less robust in the future: “Policymakers also started closing natural gas plants because they produce more CO2 emissions than wind and solar, ignoring warnings that doing so would lead to energy shortages. On Wednesday, California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, signed an executive order asking the state legislature to ban fracking oil and gas, the latter of which provided a majority of the state's energy during the recent blackouts.” https://reason.com/video/how-californias-environmental-mandates-led-to-blackouts/ https://reason.com/video/how-californias-environmental-manda...

dredmorbius 6y ago
California has relied on out-of-state generation, notably from the Pacific Northwest (Bonneville Power Administration and others) since the mid-20th century if not earlier.
- boogies 6y ago
  How much usage does “relied” mean? Has it always imported 2-3 times as much as the next state https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/images/2019.04.04/main.svg https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/images/2019.04.04/main.svg, and is the increase italicized in my earlier comment an exception and not a trend?
  - dredmorbius 6y ago
    I'm not entirely sure, though given the infrastructure created (especially long-distance transmission lines dating to the early 20th century), its age, the tremendous surplus of hydroelectric capacity in the PNW, and California's comparatively large west-coast population component, I'd be inclined to suspect it's long been a large component. Since the 1970s the main change has been the commissioning, and decommissioning, of several nuclear power plants, notably Rancho Seco (near Sacramento) and San Onofre (near San Diego). A third large plant, Diablo Canyon, continues operation. A fourth much smaller plant at Humboldt Bay shut down in 1976. I don't have a resource for long-term power trends, history, imports/exports, and mix for the state, though I'll keep an eye out.

dredmorbius 6y ago

California has relied on out-of-state generation, notably from the Pacific Northwest (Bonneville Power Administration and others) since the mid-20th century if not earlier.

boogies 6y ago
How much usage does “relied” mean? Has it always imported 2-3 times as much as the next state https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/images/2019.04.04/main.svg https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/images/2019.04.04/main.svg, and is the increase italicized in my earlier comment an exception and not a trend?
- dredmorbius 6y ago
  I'm not entirely sure, though given the infrastructure created (especially long-distance transmission lines dating to the early 20th century), its age, the tremendous surplus of hydroelectric capacity in the PNW, and California's comparatively large west-coast population component, I'd be inclined to suspect it's long been a large component. Since the 1970s the main change has been the commissioning, and decommissioning, of several nuclear power plants, notably Rancho Seco (near Sacramento) and San Onofre (near San Diego). A third large plant, Diablo Canyon, continues operation. A fourth much smaller plant at Humboldt Bay shut down in 1976. I don't have a resource for long-term power trends, history, imports/exports, and mix for the state, though I'll keep an eye out.