California residents are once again struggling to maintain power after a heat wave last weekend left as many as 50,000 people without power and caused a concert to be canceled at the famed Hollywood Bowl due to a power outage. [emphasis, links added]
this hollywood reporter Notable:
The Hollywood Bowl was forced to cancel its Sept. 8 show due to a power outage.
The venue posted on its website that the concert headlined by Vance Joy has been cancelled.
this reporter It said the cause of the outage was unclear, but KABC-7 blamed it on the heat:
The heat is affecting electrical equipment as utility companies scramble to dispatch crews.
This leaves thousands of people without access to air conditioning or refrigeration during the hottest days of the year.
…
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews are working as quickly as possible to restore power to approximately 50,000 customers. But the wait can be painful.
The weekend's power outages began as early as Friday and marked at least Californians have to endure warm-weather power outages for third time in past five years – and the absence of strong winds, which sometimes cause power companies to shut off power for fear of downed transmission lines that could spark fires.
— Hollywood Bowl (@HollywoodBowl) September 9, 2024
Amid a 2020 blackout, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Californians they must “woke up” to green energy.
Within weeks, however, Newsom resumed his green energy push, announcing a ban on new sales of gasoline-powered cars by 2035. (He acknowledged earlier this year that California still faces blackouts despite investments in new battery capacity.)
Newsom has not yet issued a warning to California residents about the heat wave that is currently lasting several days.
California's “Flex Alert” page shows that despite local problems, the overall grid has capacity.
Still, California faces continued risks of power shortages as it moves toward its goal of “net-zero” emissions and a 100% carbon-free grid by 2045.
In practice, this means closing fossil fuel plants and relying on wind and solar energy. The state has only one operating nuclear power plant left, which remains at risk of closure.
wall street journal Editorial Board Member Alysia Finley writes in the Journal’s opinion section Magazine Monday noted:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed “extreme heat” for Friday's power outages. The real culprit: national climate policies. As the Golden State plunges into darkness, the rest of the country may follow suit.
…
All of which is why Los Angeles' Office of Public Accountability recommended this summer that the city scale back its 100% renewable energy goal by 2035, warning that its utilities could move to expensive battery technology that could become obsolete. That doesn't worry Democrats in Sacramento, who have directed utilities to add more batteries and provide subsidies for homeowners.
Cynics might suspect they are cheering for blackouts in the hope that they will prompt people to buy batteries. Pragmatists will buy fossil fuel generators before they deplete the state.
Rather than follow California's cautionary example, Democrats have adopted the approach in other states, notably Minnesota under Gov. Tim Walz.
The vice presidential candidate signed legislation pushing local utilities to achieve carbon-free electricity generation by 2040 — five years earlier than California and with far less annual sunshine.
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