No one can miss the irony of Californians finding themselves stuck at home just as they are finally ending their draconian pandemic restrictions due to their equally draconian energy production regulations.
By Rick Manning
According to Newsweek, as temperatures hit triple digits during California’s heat wave last week, the state’s power grid operators encouraged residents to relieve pressure on the grid by charging their electric vehicles before the peak energy use times of day.
The California Independent System Operator (ISO), which oversees the grid, called upon Californians to conserve energy twice last week through the use of Flex Alerts, which ask residents to practice energy conservation on a voluntary basis. Charging electric vehicles before the time period covered by the alerts was included on a list of energy conservation tips the California ISO posted on Twitter, as was avoiding use of large appliances and turning off extra lights.
Matthew Moniot, a researcher with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, said during a recent interview with Newsweek that electric vehicle owners now mostly charge their vehicles at night, but that will likely have to change so that more drivers are charging while energy production levels are higher.
“If you look at aggregate load across the grid, it tends to spike in the evening hours whenever people come home,” Moniot said. Though energy use tends to dip overnight while people are sleeping, that is also the time when less energy is produced by solar and wind, both of which are energy sources Moniot said will be increasingly relied upon as states like California continue embracing clean energy.
Increased reliance on solar and wind energy will present a “tricky problem” regarding “how much can we move what’s currently overnight charging to be during the daytime hours, when generation may be more excessive,” Moniot said.
California’s green energy schemes are largely to blame for the state’s energy woes.
California is struggling with an electricity generation shortage due to hot temperatures and high winds forcing utility Pacific Gas and Electric to stop producing electricity impacting millions of people. California is also ground zero for the electric car movement with many owners caught without the ability to charge their vehicles effectively turning them into bricks.
No one can miss the irony of Californians finding themselves stuck at home just as they are finally ending their draconian pandemic restrictions due to their equally draconian energy production regulations. As Joe Biden is trying to Californize America through his war on reliable energy, the disabling of electric vehicles in the state should serve as a grim warning for the rest of us about the consequences of being against both electricity generation and the internal combustion engine.
One can only imagine the backlash when young people in the once golden state discover that their iPhones rely upon electricity generation, and the wall doesn’t just magically charge their batteries. It could get ugly very quickly as people walk the streets like they are part of the Living Dead staring at their inoperable devices muttering meaninglessly.
California is a cautionary tale to the rest of the country. We need energy policies that promote energy independence, and that means tapping into our vast natural resources. Resources the Biden administration is fast locking up.
Rick Manning is President of Americans for Limited Government.
