California Governor Gavin Newsom: Time to ‘Sober Up’ About Green-Energy’s Limitations

Wind and solar energy, Wiki


California Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state had to “sober up” about the fact that renewable energy sources, wind and solar, had failed to provide enough power for the state during a record-setting heatwave, and needed “backup” and “insurance” from other sources. Hundreds of thousands of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) customers in northern and central California lost power during a heatwave with record-breaking temperatures over the weekend. In 2018, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed a law requiring the state to obtain 100% of its energy needs from renewables by 2045, though no one could explain how the state would achieve that goal. In 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, adopted a version of the Green New Deal that commits the US to reach 100% renewables in electricity generation by 2035. -GEG

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state had to “sober up” about the fact that renewable energy sources had failed to provide enough power for the state at peak demand, and needed “backup” and “insurance” from other sources.

Newsom addressed journalists and the public in the midst of ongoing electricity blackouts that began on Friday, as hundreds of thousands of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) customers in northern and central California lost power.

There is currently high demand for electricity across the state, as the entire West Coast has been hit by a heat wave and record-breaking temperatures.

One reason the state lacked power, officials admitted, was its over-reliance on “renewables” — i.e. wind and solar power.

There was not enough wind to keep turbines going, Newsom said, and cloud cover and nightfall restricted solar power.

“While we’ve had some peak gust winds,” he explained, “wind gust events across the state have been relatively mild.”

That was good for fighting fires, he said, but bad for the “renewable portfolio” in the state’s energy infrastructure. In addition, high demand for electricity in the evening hours, coupled with less input from solar plants, created strain.

On Friday, Newsom said, the state had fallen about 1,000 megawatts short; on Saturday, it fell 450 megawatts short. Sunday saw only “modest or minor” interruptions. But on Monday, he said, the state would be 4,400 megawatts short of “where we believe we need to be.”

“This next few days, we are anticipating being challenged,” Newsom said, as the heat wave was predicted to last through Wednesday.

“We failed to predict and plan these shortages,” Newsom admitted boldly, “and that’s simply unacceptable.” He said he took responsibility for the crisis, and for addressing it immediately, so that “we never come back into this position again.”

Newsom said the state would try to address shortfalls through conservation, and through procuring new sources of energy.

Though the state would continue its “transition” to 100% renewable energy, Newsom said, “we cannot sacrifice reliability as we move forward in this transition.”

He promised “forecasting that is more sober” regarding solar energy, and a stronger focus on energy storage.

California’s shift toward “green” energy has led the way for Democrats nationwide, who hope to impose even more ambitious targets for renewable energy nationwide.

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Ed
Ed
3 years ago

Pelousy’ nephew STILL needs to be “taken out to the woodshed.” At LEAST that anyway.

Jim Gardner
Jim Gardner
3 years ago

The technology to make “Solar” THE power source for a country, state, or industry, does not exist. The peaceful, majestic, bird swatter type windmills aren’t practical. At the will of the wind, the high stress on their bearings, and of course bird strike damage to the rotors and bearings, these serene machines are obsolete compared to a water driven dynamo from an hundred years ago. Solar cells techno magic, sunlight to electric power, takes thousands of solar cells on hundreds of acres of land. Fossil fuels, water, and atomic power aren’t just better, they are superior technology and cheaper too.… Read more »

Jim Laffrey
Jim Laffrey
3 years ago

Designed To Fail. Just look with your own eyes at a huge 3-blade wind generator. You see that about 80percent of the wind through the circle made by the blades Goes Right Through Without Touching A Blade. And they are so heavy, they need a motor inside to get them started turning in wind from zero to 15mph. The old-time weather-vane water-pump windmills were far better. Remember seeing pictures or videos of them? The 3-blade monsters got installed by corrupt government subsidies making the companies’ owners rich. Now, the useless junk blights the landscape, no money provided to repair them… Read more »