Amid the intense anger over PG&E’s ongoing power shutoffs, and growing worries about the strain climate change will put on Californians, everyone from the governor on down is asking the same question: What can we do about it?
As PG&E executives continue to face off this fall with state regulators over the widespread system failures that have left millions of Californians in the dark, it’s not a surprise that there are all sorts of new ideas popping around — from $100,000 fines for public safety violations and $100 refunds for everyone who loses power during planned shutoffs to new cash penalties for every hour PG&E de-energizes its lines.
There’s also renewed interest in adopting a new model for delivering power, as many of those impacted by shutoffs reconsider the idea of going super local, reducing reliance on the grid by tapping only nearby wind and solar resources to power each of our communities, and investing in micro-grids to keep local power on when PG&E shuts down its lines.
Bolstering the resilience of local electric systems is important, but the best way to avoid power shutoffs isn’t to turn our backs on California’s grid. It’s to modernize it—updating the system we have with targeted investments that can keep pace with system needs and adapt to the growing stresses of climate change.
California isn’t the only state that has problems with climate-related natural disasters; Florida and Texas face hurricanes along the Gulf of Mexico each year, which have caused them to expand and harden their grids in response to the continuous and increasing threat of extreme weather events. San Diego’s investor-owned utility has improved its deployment of power shutoffs to minimize disruptions to families, students, teachers, small business owners, and — critically — their most vulnerable customers.
With the right, smart investments in next-generation transmission lines, automated controls, and advanced system upgrades, we can do the same in California — providing reliable, renewable, and affordable electricity service all over the state. Doing so will improve connections between regions and give grid operators more options for isolating any needed power shutoffs. It will also make the whole system safer and less vulnerable to wildfires in the first place.
Transmission investments are also essential for California to meet its climate requirements — including the state’s commitment to achieving 100% clean energy in the next 25 years. As good as it may sound to independently power all of our communities with solar panels on every roof and wind turbines right outside town, there is no single solution. Our needs are just too great.
Local energy and public power are important parts of the state’s energy plan, especially in some of the state’s more vulnerable communities. But we will need to do all this and much more to meet our ambitious goals. Local power cannot replace the need to generate and distribute renewable power where wind and solar resources are strongest — and share power, reserves and grid services with our neighbors across the West.
Simply put, to transform the way we power the world’s fifth biggest economy we’re also going to have to find a way to dramatically increase our supplies of “utility-scale” wind and solar power. That means improving our transmission system to share clean resources across the West — and make our climate transition cleaner, faster, cheaper and more reliable. It also means siting energy facilities appropriately, in less heavily populated areas — and probably offshore as well — to ensure they’re producing energy when we need it most.
It will take some time to upgrade our energy system, and we have to do it right. We also have to start today. These investments can’t be put off to some future time. The climate clock is relentless, and it is running.
Carl Zichella is director of Western Transmission for the National Resources Defense Council.
