Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first • Hacker News Board

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#11

Post by nemomarx » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:07 PM UTC

buckle8017 wrote: post #9

toomuchtodo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Utah is about half of the Pacificorp East balancing authority. https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/US-NW-PACE/live/fif... Nevada Power serves a substantial amount of western Utah. https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/US-NW-NEVP/live/fif...

Cool, that's still not a grid for stability purposes.

can you expand? I'm not sure I get it. isn't then having a wider interconnection better for stability and to handle solar? they can share cheap power in gluts and pull in other sources at night and so on.

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#12

Post by toomuchtodo » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:11 PM UTC

buckle8017 wrote: post #9

toomuchtodo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Utah is about half of the Pacificorp East balancing authority. https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/US-NW-PACE/live/fif... Nevada Power serves a substantial amount of western Utah. https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/US-NW-NEVP/live/fif...

Cool, that's still not a grid for stability purposes.

https://www.eia.gov/tools/glossary/index.php?id=Balancing%20...

> Balancing authority (electric): The responsible entity that integrates resource plans ahead of time, maintains load-interchange-generation balance within a Balancing Authority Area, and supports Interconnection frequency in real time.

https://www.nerc.com/glossary-of-terms

> Definition & Scope: A BA is a NERC-certified entity responsible for matching electricity supply and demand in real-time within a specific geographic area. An ISO is an independent, non-profit corporate entity that manages regional transmission grids and runs competitive wholesale power markets.

https://www.ferc.gov/electric-power-markets

A balancing authority is quite literally a federally certified entity for maintaining grid stability.

(Utah only has ~2.5GW of coal generation capacity remaining, as of this comment)

https://www.gem.wiki/Utah_and_coal#Existing_coal_plants

https://www.gem.wiki/Utah_and_coal

https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/12/05/intermountain-power-...

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=67427

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#13

Post by toomuchtodo » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:14 PM UTC

Rebelgecko wrote: post #8

buckle8017 wrote: post #6

Utah isn't a power grid. They're on the western interconnect. Combined solar and wind are about 25-30% of production there. These articles about individual states are trash.

Fwiw I think Utah is the only state with legalized plugin solar (many more on the way though!)

State plug in solar legislation tracker: https://www.brightsaver.org/legislation-tracker

(passed in 10 states, 2 awaiting signatures, as of this comment)

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#14

Post by epistasis » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:15 PM UTC

Also true for California for quite some time.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/california-solar-...

What's going to happen in the future is that May will be a month of extreme electricity abundance, with a good chunk of the electricity just not being collected at all because the grid doesn't need it, and it will be cheaper to have unused electricity in May than to have too little solar in December.

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#15

Post by Xt-6 » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:17 PM UTC

Rebelgecko wrote: post #8

buckle8017 wrote: post #6

Utah isn't a power grid. They're on the western interconnect. Combined solar and wind are about 25-30% of production there. These articles about individual states are trash.

Fwiw I think Utah is the only state with legalized plugin solar (many more on the way though!)

A few more states have recently joined it. https://pluginsolarus.com/states

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#16

Post by mekdoonggi » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC

epistasis wrote: post #14

Also true for California for quite some time. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/california-solar-... What's going to happen in the future is that May will be a month of extreme electricity abundance, with a good chunk of the electricity just not being collected at all because the grid doesn't need it, and it will be cheaper to have unused electricity in May than to have too little solar in December.

And eventually that arbitrage will be big enough to justify a pumped hydro/gravity/iron-air storage.

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#17

Post by kansface » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:20 PM UTC

mekdoonggi wrote: post #16

epistasis wrote: post #14

Also true for California for quite some time. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/california-solar-... What's going to happen in the future is that May will be a month of extreme electricity abundance, with a good chunk of the electricity just not being collected at all because the grid doesn't need it, and it will be cheaper to have unused electricity in May than to have too little solar in December.

And eventually that arbitrage will be big enough to justify a pumped hydro/gravity/iron-air storage.

Or possibly the return of some heavy industry?

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#18

Post by epistasis » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

mekdoonggi wrote: post #16

epistasis wrote: post #14

Also true for California for quite some time. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/california-solar-... What's going to happen in the future is that May will be a month of extreme electricity abundance, with a good chunk of the electricity just not being collected at all because the grid doesn't need it, and it will be cheaper to have unused electricity in May than to have too little solar in December.

And eventually that arbitrage will be big enough to justify a pumped hydro/gravity/iron-air storage.

Doubtful, the tradeoff is solar cost versus storage cost. Pumped hydro and gravity are waaaaaaaay too expensive compared to excess solar panels. Pumped hydro takes massive construction projects, which are very very expensive these days. Gravity storage (non-water, meaning non-hydro) never made any sense at all, the material costs are just way too high.

Iron-air storage is still being proven out, but it still requires so much material that only getting 1-2 cycles per year just won't justify it, because electricity is going to be so cheap.

It's hard to overstate how cheap solar panels are these days. Even in the US, which has costs 3x-5x the rest of the world because of failed protective tariffs.

Re: Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, a new first

#19

Post by toomuchtodo » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

epistasis wrote: post #18

mekdoonggi wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And eventually that arbitrage will be big enough to justify a pumped hydro/gravity/iron-air storage.

Doubtful, the tradeoff is solar cost versus storage cost. Pumped hydro and gravity are waaaaaaaay too expensive compared to excess solar panels. Pumped hydro takes massive construction projects, which are very very expensive these days. Gravity storage (non-water, meaning non-hydro) never made any sense at all, the material costs are just way too high. Iron-air storage is still being proven out, but it still requires…