New California Law

Starting Feb. 1st California will no longer use power generated from "dirty sources" (i.e. coal plants). It doesn't matter if the power plant is inside or outside the state. Currently 20% of their power comes from coal plants outside of their state.

Should be, uh, interesting...

Note: I've probably just waved red meat in front of certian people. but please try and avoid turning this thread into a political/global warming/pollution bruhaha. Let's stick to loss of power. Thanks.

This is great news for those of us living outside California. Thanks for the extra power.

Holy Crap!!! That will mean that 20% of the state will shut down. No gas, no burgers and fries, no TV, nothing, because you can not buy a thing in CA (or pretty much anywhere else) without electricity to power the computer that tells the burgerflipper how much change to give you.

CA is on the verge of brownouts about half the time now, it is going to get worse, pure and simple, if they lose 20% of their power. Another good reason to be living in our home on wheels, far from CA...

Hahaha. Grab some popcorn. This shoud be great entertainment.

Although I extend my apologies to the normal people living in CA.

WOW. They managed to sneak that one in under the radar. Thanks for the post and link, I had no idea this was about to happen. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Without getting political, it's interesting how the legislators in certain areas feel they are going to save the planet and fix everything. I learned the other day that the largest consumer of disposable plastic bags isn't the United States, but rather Japan. There seems to be a lot of manipulating of information behind the scenes to make people believe one way or another. Yes, we have global climate change, but I have a hard time accepting that it's entirely the fault of the human population. Mother Nature has her hands in it, too.

A loss of 20% of electricity by coal-fired plants means that California's feel-good politicians just drove the cost of electricity up THAT much more for the end consumer. My prediction is that what has already been sky-high costs since Gray Davis (and probably before) are going to be thrown into low-Earth orbit like two guys piloting an SR-71 on crack.

So the legislators are going to go home feeling good at the end of the day, the electricity suppliers (PG&E, etc.) are going to make a bigger killing, and folks I know in the Golden State are going to be pissed at the end of each month.

The irony is that there are folks who have put in solar panels on their homes in CA and generate so much electricity that they can pump the surplus back into the grid and get paid for it. It would be nice to see big tax breaks and exemptions for people willing to do this, thereby reducing the strain (somewhat) on the power system.

Well, I'm not particularly worried. It's not like the state suddenly has 20% less electricity available on February 1st when the law kicks in. The law applies to new long-term contracts. We'll still be buying a lot of "dirty" electricity from other states for years still under existing long-term contracts, plus under shorter-term contracts or on an ad hoc basis to make up any shortfall in case enough "clean" supplies are not available.

In the meantime, this change gives power generators a financial incentive to switch fuels or finally junk old, polluting plants, boosts business to smaller power generators already using clean technology, raises the prospects of companies bringing out newer, better technologies like cheaper solar panels, etc. It's an incremental change, not an overnight revolution.

Anyway, so personally, I'm not worried about not having power this summer, at least not directly from this law.

A lot more solar is coming to CA. Won't happen overnight, but a few brownouts due to non-availablity of politically correct electricity should provide motivation.

No offense taken. We will use the blackout periods to practice our preparedness skills. The BBQ is fueled and ready to go. My wife loves it when I do the cooking outdoors. :-)

That makes a lot more sense than whacking away almost a quarter of your power.

Wait a minute, did I just say a California law makes sense? <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

-Blast

> The law applies to new long-term contracts.

The price goes up immediately, though. :->