Recently in The Grid
Commentary:
A major transmission project now being considered by the BLM and other agencies could bring 3,000 megawatts of power from Wyoming to cities in California, Nevada, and Arizona, removing an obstacle to much greater expansion of wind turbines in Wyoming's eagle habitat.
The Grid:
On a cost-effectiveness basis alone, electrical power storage may make a lot more sense for solar energy than it does for wind.
The Grid:
A bill to revamp the state's laws regulating how utilities treat rooftop solar that had been a target of pointed criticism by pro-solar groups passed a voice vote on the Senate Floor Monday with amendments that have some solar advocates singing cautious praise.
The Grid:
A draft of a policy would require the state's three largest utilities to start acquiring power storage capacity, with a target of more than 1,300 megawatts of storage capacity by 2020.
Commentary:
If a recent cease and desist letter that Southern California Edison (SCE) sent to rooftop solar activists was intended to make them go away, it seems to be having the opposite effect. Which could be a metaphor for utilities and rooftop solar itself, when you get right down to it.
Commentary:
Homeowners who have a little bit of extra cash when they install solar panels are often encouraged to add battery storage to their home system. But a Southern California utility just delivered some upsetting news to owners of those storage systems.
The Grid:
A giant energy project that would turn an abandoned open pit mine near Joshua Tree National Park into two hydroelectric storage reservoirs got a thumbs-up from the state's main water quality agency this week.
The Grid:
A ruling by a Midwest federal court may force California to buy renewable energy from out of state whether it wants to or not.
The Grid:
An expert on California's grid says the concern of rolling blackouts is overblown.
Concentrating Solar:
The Interior Department approved three new renewable energy projects on public lands in Arizona and Nevada on Monday. But one of those plants probably won't be built until the developer finds a California utility to buy the power, and that might not be easy.
Wind:
Between May 23 and 26, California broke three records for renewable energy feeding into the grid: two for solar, and one for wind.
Technology:
An East Coast firm has announced it's raised $15 million to develop affordable, scalable power storage for the grid using zinc-air battery technology.
The Grid:
California's grid operator says Southern California should have enough power if San Onofre doesn't start back up this summer, but we've all got to be ready to conserve energy if things get tight.
The Grid:
Despite reports in the press that the continuing outage of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant will cause "Enron-style" power shortages throughout Southern California this sumer, one expert on the electrical grid says such fears are exaggerated.
The Grid:
Just another reminder of how fragile our current power distribution system really is, vulnerable to acts of both Nature and bored vandals with guns.
The Grid:
We can run our grid on renewable power effectively, say the authors of a study released this month, without massive storage capacity. The key is building out about three times as much renewable generating capacity as the grid needs to meet peak demand.
The Grid:
The Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project would help make energy derived from renewable sources available more reliably, but at what cost?
The Grid:
A new study indicates that power storage may only become crucial as the grid approaches 4/5 renewable.
The Grid:
The California Independent System Operator (CaISO), which manages the majority of the state's power grid, has approved five new transmission projects that the agency says are crucial to the state's renewable energy future.
Wind:
Even a resource as unpredictable as wind power -- which can fluctuate statewide in an hour or two -- isn't that hard to incorporate into a grid the size of California's.
News and analysis about renewable energy in California. Blog host Chris Clarke is an environmental writer of two decades standing. He currently lives in Joshua Tree and can be contacted at: rewire@kcet.org.
- Wind Power
- PV and Solar Thermal
- Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)
- Watts and Watt-Hours, Kilo and Mega
- 'Enough To Power X Thousand Homes'
- The Grid
- Distributed Generation
- Conservation and 'Negawatts'
- Grid Storage
- PACE Loans, Feed In Tariffs and Net Metering
- Base Load and Peaking Power
- Capacity Factor
- Renewable Portfolio Standards
- Biomass
- Transportation and Renewable Energy
- Geothermal
