I once thought California was such a great place to live. Yet somehow I came to my senses and realize it's a great place if you want to be over regulated, over taxed, over burdened and have government decide how every facet of your life should be impacted.
The latest solar debacle is only one of many reasons the rest of the country laughs at California. Imagine legislating that every new home must have solar as of January 2020, then figure a way to denigrate the value of that solar in favor of the power companies, who pleaded for solar contribution to the grid and energy saving. Imagine paying $15-20,000 for a solar array with the hope it would offset most of the electric bills, and finding out your investment has lost significant return on investment. Adding a huge fee to your monthly bill because you have solar and also reducing the price the utilities pay for the solar you generate. And this is what California government is doing...penalizing those whom they commanded to have solar.
And the reasoning behind this is so asinine...because the government wants to give solar to those who allegedly can't afford it. And charge you for it in taxes and loss of ROI.
IF every solar owner consumed every kilowatt they produced, the electric companies would be forced to build more natural gas powered plants to supply the grid, that "devil" natural gas so many cities are trying to ban in new homes and commercial construction. And gas powered electric "peaker" plants take years to build, so any help from their generation could be 5 years or more away, even IF they were built.
IF there was no "solar farms" like many communities with much solar, that produced an abundance of excess power to the grid, more and more blackouts would be inevitable. Electric cars may be the wave of the future but charging them still impacts the grid in a negative way. And that grid is supported by mostly fossil fuel plants since since nuclear power is all but shut down in California with the exception of Diablo Canyon...one that environmentalists have been trying to shutter for years. But with the grid fragility, now the State is trying to keep it open as long as possible...another flip flop in government planning, or lack of as it appears.
And, there is more...California is banning sale of all NEW small off road engines (SORE's) such as lawn blowers, trimmers and yes, generators unless they meet a new emissions rule by 2024. Generators and large pressure washers will be required to reduce emissions to 90% as of 2024 and be zero emissions by 2028. New stand-by generators for home use, portable generators for camping, and even in-frame generators on new RV's will not be allowed unless they are zero emissions, which the small engine manufacturers state is impossible. And that includes gasoline, diesel and propane. Zero emissions means electric, yet another blow to the fragile grid.
Your tax dollars at work: "The Legislature has allocated $30 million to be dedicated to sole proprietors and other small landscaping businesses in California to help them purchase zero-emission small off-road equipment, including leaf blowers, lawn mowers and string trimmers." These must be charged and imagine the number of depleted batteries and equipment that will produce. Huge solar panels on landscapers trucks to charge the dozens of batteries needed in a day? So you will be paying for the state to further burden the grid in their quest to completely ban internal combustion engines.
Finally, many communities are mandating ways to build more homes, supposedly "affordable" but in reality each and every home built adds to the electric grid burden. Same as water and other utilities in short supply. A thousand new homes using 400 kW each per month requires almost 5 mW or 5 million watts annually to supply their needs, and more actually needs to be generated due to line loss, etc.
Dreams of the Golden State have turned into a far less precious metal...perhaps mercury, slipping through the fingers of our residents as they try to grasp on to what's left...
