6 ms·

Does the California power grid still need to perform load shedding during peak usage, or have they added additional capacity?

while_true_ 4y ago
Since the Aug. 2020 blackout the state has added 2 GW of battery storage for solar and wind, as well as delayed closure of a natural gas plant. There's another 2 GW of battery storage planned for this year. If California had the extra 2 GW of storage in 2020, the blackout would have been averted.
- akvadrako 4y ago
  GW is pretty much irrelevant for storage, since power is rarely the bottleneck.
- Gibbon1 4y ago
  4GW gives California 100 wh per capita. Doesn't seem like much but if they keep adding that much a year. What if they have ten times as much. That would be something.
lkjdsklf 4y ago
Hasn't happened yet this year, but they're expecting more capacity related rolling blackouts. This certainly isn't just a texas problem
mdorazio 4y ago
Not sure why you got downvoted. Yes, rolling brownouts are still very much a thing in California and probably will be for the foreseeable future: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-faces-summer-blackouts-from-climate-extremes/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-faces-...
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  They are being downvoted because 1) California being shitty should have no effect on whether Texas is shitty or not and because 2) even IF California is shittier than Texas (an opinion rather than fact), that doesn't make it any better than the other 48 states that aren't regularly in the news for shitty electrical infrastructure that fails regularly.
Kye 4y ago
The California grid can pull from outside if needed. Most of Texas can't. That's the issue.
- lkjdsklf 4y ago
  This is true in theory, but in practice it makes little difference. When California has increased demand, so do all the states it's connected to. Hence the rolling blackouts a couple years ago and more are expected for this summer.
  - khuey 4y ago
    Most blackouts in California are not driven by electricity shortages but rather by hot and strong wind events that lead electric utilities to shut off certain transmission lines in rural areas to avoid sparking wildfires. This distinction probably doesn't matter much to those who have their power cut but it is important to actually fixing the root cause. There was a particularly nasty heat wave in the western US in 2020 that did lead to load shedding due to a shortage of electricity. That was the first time California had load shedding since 2011 IIRC, and it did not repeat in 2021.
  - dragonwriter 4y ago
    > Hence the rolling blackouts the last few years and more are expected for this summer. California has had two days with rolling blackouts since 2001, August 14-15 of 2020. It has had public safety power shutoffs in some areas since 2019 to prevent fire risk during dry, high-wind conditions, but those are a different issue than rolling blackouts and unrelated to energy generating capacity.
    - lkjdsklf 4y ago
      > California has had two days with rolling blackouts since 2001, August 14-15 of 2020. Right. And more are predicted for this year. So it was and still is an issue. Or at least, officials expect it to still be an issue.
- collegeburner 4y ago
nativespecies 4y ago
Texan resident here. Experienced more blackouts/brownouts when I lived in CA than I have in TX.

while_true_ 4y ago

Since the Aug. 2020 blackout the state has added 2 GW of battery storage for solar and wind, as well as delayed closure of a natural gas plant. There's another 2 GW of battery storage planned for this year. If California had the extra 2 GW of storage in 2020, the blackout would have been averted.

akvadrako 4y ago
GW is pretty much irrelevant for storage, since power is rarely the bottleneck.
Gibbon1 4y ago
4GW gives California 100 wh per capita. Doesn't seem like much but if they keep adding that much a year. What if they have ten times as much. That would be something.

lkjdsklf 4y ago

Hasn't happened yet this year, but they're expecting more capacity related rolling blackouts. This certainly isn't just a texas problem

mdorazio 4y ago

Not sure why you got downvoted. Yes, rolling brownouts are still very much a thing in California and probably will be for the foreseeable future: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-faces-summer-blackouts-from-climate-extremes/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-faces-...

mrguyorama 4y ago
They are being downvoted because 1) California being shitty should have no effect on whether Texas is shitty or not and because 2) even IF California is shittier than Texas (an opinion rather than fact), that doesn't make it any better than the other 48 states that aren't regularly in the news for shitty electrical infrastructure that fails regularly.

Kye 4y ago

The California grid can pull from outside if needed. Most of Texas can't. That's the issue.

lkjdsklf 4y ago
This is true in theory, but in practice it makes little difference. When California has increased demand, so do all the states it's connected to. Hence the rolling blackouts a couple years ago and more are expected for this summer.
- khuey 4y ago
  Most blackouts in California are not driven by electricity shortages but rather by hot and strong wind events that lead electric utilities to shut off certain transmission lines in rural areas to avoid sparking wildfires. This distinction probably doesn't matter much to those who have their power cut but it is important to actually fixing the root cause. There was a particularly nasty heat wave in the western US in 2020 that did lead to load shedding due to a shortage of electricity. That was the first time California had load shedding since 2011 IIRC, and it did not repeat in 2021.
- dragonwriter 4y ago
  > Hence the rolling blackouts the last few years and more are expected for this summer. California has had two days with rolling blackouts since 2001, August 14-15 of 2020. It has had public safety power shutoffs in some areas since 2019 to prevent fire risk during dry, high-wind conditions, but those are a different issue than rolling blackouts and unrelated to energy generating capacity.
  - lkjdsklf 4y ago
    > California has had two days with rolling blackouts since 2001, August 14-15 of 2020. Right. And more are predicted for this year. So it was and still is an issue. Or at least, officials expect it to still be an issue.
collegeburner 4y ago

nativespecies 4y ago

Texan resident here. Experienced more blackouts/brownouts when I lived in CA than I have in TX.