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> Washington State is suing to block a natural gas pipeline to California, so California will burn filthy coal instead. California's electric grid has problems
by danans 4y ago
> Washington State is suing to block a natural gas pipeline to California, so California will burn filthy coal instead.
California's electric grid has problems, but burning coal isn't one of them. Coal represents 0.15% of electricity generation in the state and 3% of overall power consumption when accounting for power imports.
Also, coal isn't used for peaker plants, which is what California uses a lot of natural gas for. That service will be replaced by dispatchable storage and loads.
- WalterBright 4y agoThe question is, what will California burn with that natural gas pipeline scuttled? Coal.
- danans 4y agoCalifornia has very few coal plants left, so the likelihood that it will replace that natural gas capacity with coal is very low. Please feel free to provide a citation for your assertion though. The state isn't building new coal capacity at all. It's cheaper by nearly every metric to build renewables and storage than build new coal capacity, or just import natural gas from another source.
- jackmott42 4y ago[flagged]