California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#1

Post by lizparody23 » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:30 PM UTC

California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3
solarpowerworldonline.com

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#2

Post by pmalynin » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:37 PM UTC

Then why is it so damn expensive. Honestly one of the reasons I can’t wait to own a house is to purchase enough solar panels and batteries to give a huge middle finger to PG&E and go off-grid

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#3

Post by ceeplusplus » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:38 PM UTC

pmalynin wrote: post #2

Then why is it so damn expensive. Honestly one of the reasons I can’t wait to own a house is to purchase enough solar panels and batteries to give a huge middle finger to PG&E and go off-grid

It's honestly insane how PG&E is going bankrupt despite charging 35 cents/kWh. Where is all the money going??

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#4

Post by not2b » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:40 PM UTC

ceeplusplus wrote: post #3

pmalynin wrote: post #2

Then why is it so damn expensive. Honestly one of the reasons I can’t wait to own a house is to purchase enough solar panels and batteries to give a huge middle finger to PG&E and go off-grid

It's honestly insane how PG&E is going bankrupt despite charging 35 cents/kWh. Where is all the money going??

Paying damages from all the wildfires they have caused.

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#5

Post by Trias11 » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:40 PM UTC

ceeplusplus wrote: post #3

pmalynin wrote: post #2

Then why is it so damn expensive. Honestly one of the reasons I can’t wait to own a house is to purchase enough solar panels and batteries to give a huge middle finger to PG&E and go off-grid

It's honestly insane how PG&E is going bankrupt despite charging 35 cents/kWh. Where is all the money going??

No post body was provided.

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#6

Post by bryan0 » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:41 PM UTC

ceeplusplus wrote: post #3

pmalynin wrote: post #2

Then why is it so damn expensive. Honestly one of the reasons I can’t wait to own a house is to purchase enough solar panels and batteries to give a huge middle finger to PG&E and go off-grid

It's honestly insane how PG&E is going bankrupt despite charging 35 cents/kWh. Where is all the money going??

one place:

> PG&E Corp. put a cost estimate of more than $25 billion Thursday on its effort to plant thousands of miles of power lines underground in an effort to tamp down wildfire risks.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article25824965...

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#7

Post by kelnos » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:41 PM UTC

The grid operator cited is the California Independent System Operator. How much of CA's electricity consumption is fed by that operator?

In the article they mention 23GW from wind and solar. A quick search says in 2018 CA's electrical generation capacity was 80GW (which I assume has only gone up). So this 97% is a bit misleading, no? It doesn't represent 97% of total CA electricity usage... it's less than 30%?

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#8

Post by haliskerbas » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:43 PM UTC

pmalynin wrote: post #2

Then why is it so damn expensive. Honestly one of the reasons I can’t wait to own a house is to purchase enough solar panels and batteries to give a huge middle finger to PG&E and go off-grid

I’ve been trying to do the math for my own home, are solar panels actually cash flow positive, once you account for efficiency decrease overtime etc.? It always seemed like one barely breaks even in 2 decades

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#9

Post by jimbob45 » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:44 PM UTC

bryan0 wrote: post #6

ceeplusplus wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's honestly insane how PG&E is going bankrupt despite charging 35 cents/kWh. Where is all the money going??

one place: > PG&E Corp. put a cost estimate of more than $25 billion Thursday on its effort to plant thousands of miles of power lines underground in an effort to tamp down wildfire risks. https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article25824965...

Shame that they're not getting better publicity as a result of this. Our main complaint about the internet companies is that they pocket the money meant to speed up networks for their subscribers. This is exactly what utility companies ought to do to prepare for the future.

Re: California grid set record of 97% renewable power on April 3

#10

Post by jweir » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 9:44 PM UTC

pmalynin wrote: post #2

Then why is it so damn expensive. Honestly one of the reasons I can’t wait to own a house is to purchase enough solar panels and batteries to give a huge middle finger to PG&E and go off-grid

You do not pay market rate for electricity.

Texas does allow consumers to pay market rate for electricity, you may have heard about last winter people getting bills in the several thousands of dollars when prices spiked.

CAISO was 97% renewable for only a moment, not the entire day.

The 3rd was a Sunday, not a peak day.

And the average price for energy for the day was $30.77 (day head) $27.1 (real time) for TH_SP15_GEN-APND (per MWh)