This is a follow-up to my California Dreaming post where I critiqued the ‘ambitious plans’ of the Golden State to ‘decarbonize’ its power grid. Lo and behold, California is beginning to recognise that merely wishing for something really really hard and passing laws, does not change reality.
It’s prompted by an email response from John in North Carolina to my post on what it would take to ‘decarbonize’ the overall power grid of the lower 48 contiguous states (US48) of the USA.
“Chris,
As your excellent original analysis showed, especially with respect to rapid and peak demands, it's not really possible (at least with current technology/storage systems) to go 100% green energy. The below is part of what the state of CA (the biggest green pushing state as far as I know) just decided this week in a reality check. The goal remains good/correct but it cannot be forced without other huge consequences. Cheers, John”
[For clarity I’ve enclosed the text John sent between the lines]
California will continue to rely on three natural gas plants along its southern coast to keep electricity flowing during extreme heat events following an agency’s approval Tuesday, reflecting the state’s halting progress in weaning itself off fossil fuels.
The State Water Resources Control Board approved a Newsom administration plan to keep Ormond Beach, Long Beach and Huntington Beach plants online through 2026, rather than closing them this year as planned.
The administration has said the plants, which together can power more than 2.5 million homes, are needed to keep the lights on when heat threatens to trigger rolling blackouts. The facilities will only be used when forecasts project major surges in energy demand.
People who live near the plants accused board members and other state officials of breaking promises to close the plants — first in 2020 and then by Dec. 31 of this year — and of failing to procure carbon-free replacements.
… “failing to procure carbon-free replacements”?
Failure to magic up enough unicorns, more like.
Having thus been alerted, I went searching and found several references to this matter, including:
Despite climate goals, California will let three gas plants keep running
“… Tuesday [Aug15 2023], when California officials finalized a decision they’d been telegraphing for months, voting to extend the life of three gas-fired power plants along the state’s southern coast through 2026, instead of closing them later this year.
… Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointees concluded we still need them — at least for a few more years — to avoid blackouts that could strand millions of people without air conditioning during brutal heat waves and endanger Californians who depend on medical devices powered by electricity.
… after two evenings of brief rolling blackouts in August 2020, the water board decided to give the gas plants a three-year shutdown extension.
And:
Southern California’s natural gas plants to stay open through 2026
with some extra snippets:
“A fourth, the Scattergood Generating Station in Playa Del Rey, will receive a five-year extension to fill regional supply gaps though 2029…
Newer generating units at the Huntington Beach and Long Beach plants use alternative cooling technologies, instead of seawater, so they are not subject to the phaseout. They would have remained operating regardless of today’s vote, since they are under contract for another 17.5 years — and not just for emergency use, according to AES.”
Oh, the horror!