California’s Solar-Power Output Drops by a Third as Forest Fires Rage 'Right now there is a shortage of capacity...'
By Joshua Paladino
September 14, 2020
California fires / IMAGE: CBS Sunday Morning via YouTube
California‘s poor forest management and excessive reliance on green energy sources has left the state unprepared to handle fires sweeping across the state, leaving residents without electricity during apocalyptic darkness.
The California Independent System Operator reported last Thursday that the solar power generation in the state fell to about two- thirds of an average summer day because of the fires, E&E News reported.
This will compound the need for the state to enforce rolling blackouts, which leave residents without power, sometimes without warning.
Even President Barack Obama’s former energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, said California’s lawmakers and policymakers cannot realistically assert that solar power, combined with battery power storage, can sustain the state’s electricity grid over the next 10 years.
Moniz said energy technology has not yet reached the California’s solar-power dream into a reality. Solar and wind energy sources will need natural gas to supplement them for years to come.
“Right now there is a shortage of [generating] capacity,” Moniz said, in reference to the state’s “tremendous challenges” with solar and wing energy.
Solar and wind energy vary too much in their reliability, especially as energy demands change during the time of day and across seasons.
He said natural gas must be readily available until technologies develop to allow for sustainable battery storage, hydrogen-based energy, and tools to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.