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The part of this that is actually worrying to me is this also includes gas, diesel, and propane powered electric generators. My parents live multiple hours nor
by Teknoman117 5y ago
The part of this that is actually worrying to me is this also includes gas, diesel, and propane powered electric generators.
My parents live multiple hours north of the bay in the woods along the border of Jackson state forest and rely on their generator a few times a year. Their property is heavily wooded (lots of coastal redwoods) and on the north facing side of a mountain (it’s in the shade most of the day for most of the year), making both home solar and wind impractical.
With PG&E doing power cuts, they need some way to power the fridge, furnace, and sump pump. They had their power cut for two weeks at the beginning of this year because of a winter storm, and had to run the generator a bunch. It’s one thing to have backup batteries to cover a day or two without power, but they’d need half a megawatt hour of batteries to cover the multiple week outages they’ve already experienced.
It’s one thing to convert equipment from gas to electric where it makes sense, a wholesale ban on fuel powered equipment regardless of the situation is a bit asinine.
- wtallis 5y agoThe article mentions that the restrictions for generators aren't planned to take effect until much later (2028), and that can be postponed by CARB. Also, it's only for portable generators. If you're relying on generator power multiple times per year, it probably makes sense to get one permanently installed.
- asdff 5y agoSo, if the landscaping company can't operate a portable generator in their truck bed, how are they supposed to charge all the batteries they need on the job?
- wtallis 5y agoI think you lost track of the thread. I was replying to a concern about powering a house, not a landscaping operation.
- asdff 5y agoOP was concerned about bans where it is impractical to get electricity otherwise. I was providing another example that happens every day that would also be affected by this restriction on portable electricity generation, a landscaper at a client's job site.
- giantg2 5y agoMost people use portable generators to avoid the high cost of permanent ones.
- Teknoman117 5y agoI was going to say this. Many of the people up here don't have an energy demand high enough to warrant a full scale generator. The portable generator my parents have has hookups to connect it to the main breaker panel of your house. The only thing it lacks is autostart on power failure.