California's unexpected energy challenge: too much solar

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California's unexpected energy challenge: too much solar

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Ай бұрын

As California works toward its ambitious clean energy vision, an almost counterintuitive challenge has emerged: The state is, at times, generating more solar energy than it can handle. It’s to the point where loads of clean energy are going to waste. NBC News' Liz Kreutz reports.
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#California #SolarEnergy #CleanEnergy

Пікірлер: 1 900

@algoribbon9992 Ай бұрын

Free energy is bad for greedy energy companies

@Agtsmirnoff Ай бұрын

It’s bad for everybody if it puts economic strain on other sources of energy production that are needed during times of no or little sunlight

@peopleofearth6250 Ай бұрын

@@AgtsmirnoffThat's what batteries are for. We should just subsidise batteries instead of fossil fuels. Problem solved.

@Agtsmirnoff Ай бұрын

@@peopleofearth6250 batteries don’t have the capacity right now to handle all the electricity needs, not to mention the environmental damage of mining lithium and other rare earth metals to make them. Smarter option would be to invest in nuclear, but that’s too manly of a technology for the low testosterone people of California

@Agtsmirnoff Ай бұрын

@@peopleofearth6250 but if you knew anything, you would know that Australia tried this very same strategy with solar and batteries, and it failed spectacularly because it’s too expensive and batteries cannot hold enough charge to make them a viable option en masse

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

The private equity solar companies make lots of money. It's electricity custoemrs that get charged enormous prices.

@AshleyMarks- Ай бұрын

It’s not too much solar. It’s the lack of sustainable storage at both the individual and market level.

@freespeech9059 Ай бұрын

Over using electric. Humans are so extremely.

@MirceaKitsune Ай бұрын

It's the lack of energy that can be extracted from sun rays even across a field: If the sun was powerful enough to power entire homes from rays reaching the ground, this planet would literally be Venus and everything on it burnt to a crisp.

@dawsonholdsworth5371 Ай бұрын

@@freespeech9059 Um...No. Storing hugh amounts of electricity from environmental energy is harder then a battery bank you charge your phone off. Nuclear is the best option to transition. As one rod equals 100years of clean energy for the average house. With most waste being repurposed or reused in more efficient reactors.

@martiruda Ай бұрын

or the lack of willingness to bring back the industry that China or India run using coal

@ericcousino2068 Ай бұрын

@@dawsonholdsworth5371 no creating battery storage is far easier, faster and cheaper to implement. To get that one nuclear rod of energy you will need 6 to 8 years to build a nuclear power plant. Australia China and Europe have made massive progress in just the last year in renewable power generation and storage.

@ginsugray5469 Ай бұрын

Let's be clear... no one is throwing away solar rays. The reporter is oversimplifying this to the point that is makes no sense.

@tonysu8860 Ай бұрын

Then you'd be surprised that California actually pays neighboring states to take solar electricity from California every day until 8 am when the California economy wakes up

@shelbynamels7948 28 күн бұрын

funny how the guy from ISO desperately avoids to let her have the term, but she doubles down. It's all about the vocabulary.

@user-fd1mv8dl9q 27 күн бұрын

@@ginsugray5469 it’s not difficult to understand the reporter’s statement. Energy is being produced and not used because of insufficient storage capability. Sorta defines poor planning, doncha think?

@baileym4708 27 күн бұрын

@@user-fd1mv8dl9q - no I think the original poster is correct. To be clear, power generated by solar is being used by homes and businesses first so that power is not needed to generated and solar rays will be there used or not. The way the reporter makes it sound solar power has a consequence which isn't really true unless the goal optimal efficiency, therefore solar rays and energy created by them are lost. If the goal was a slow down on the use of natural gas to produce electricity then it isn't a problem but a solution.

@mocitydon9325 20 күн бұрын

I thought I was the only one. lol I have second hand embarrassment for her.

@chillguy2758 Ай бұрын

Then install battery storage. We’re heading into an era of renewable abundance

@Rhaspun 27 күн бұрын

Yes. It's only up now showing because we've had excellent snow fall the past couple of years. So the reporter is reporting that some of the solar panel power sources aren't being utilized. The hydro-power generators have been good the last couple of years. Go back a few years during the drought we were always having threats of brown outs happening. Even right now with the high temperatures we've been having there hasn't been much talk of brown outs because everything is clicking. Look at Texas they're having problems right now with the high temperatures.

@frootlooper 18 күн бұрын

No we’re not

@chillguy2758 18 күн бұрын

@@frootlooper yes we are

@JSM-bb80u 16 күн бұрын

Sodium Ion batteries are going to revolutionise energy storage.

@commonsense.1014 6 күн бұрын

@frootlooper 😂😂😂.. bud you know how frustrating it was during the ice storm of 2010/11(memories fuzzy on year) To not have power for 8 weeks,and look across the street at the brand new subdivision with all their lights on?? Yeahh. Seee your experience may vary.😮😮😮😮😮

@laurasteinbrink58 Ай бұрын

You really could have taken a different angle on this story. Very disappointing.

@luciusrex Ай бұрын

right? i thought it was THE dumbest take on surplus renewable energy. whatever shall we do? go back to coal!??!?!! whoever wrote this segment should be fired.

@moondoggy02116 Ай бұрын

100 percent. I get that there’s a problem, but she made it sound like surplus solar energy was clogging up the sewer systems or something. The only real obstruction is political - unless there’s something I missed. Poorly framed story either way.

@Radek3887 Ай бұрын

Yeah. Sounded like a hit piece. We're wasting money by not using this energy and oh look, we're also losing jobs. Should be celebrating that you've installed that much solar, the government decided to stop wasting tax dollars, and encouraging home storage.

@aaabbb-py5xd Ай бұрын

Lol, you got a quarrel with this? Then have you seen any "free world" headlines on China?

@vastpeople9623 Ай бұрын

Facts!!

@JoeAldridge-c9i Ай бұрын

Completely wrong. Not enough storage capacity.

@Anjays Ай бұрын

Storing electricity is extremely inefficient

@PelosiStockPortfolio Ай бұрын

@@Anjays In what way?

@rebeltheharem7028 Ай бұрын

@@Anjays I don't see how 0 energy storage is better than inefficient energy storage.

@dawsonholdsworth5371 Ай бұрын

@@rebeltheharem7028 That's like saying driving 2 hours to work is better than not working. There has be a valuable enough return to make it worth the investment. It's like 1:4 ratio of energy stored and energy released. I do agree with the idea of at least moving forward.

@andrewday3206 Ай бұрын

Not enough transmission line capacity. It easily could be used elsewhere.

@MrGhosthacked Ай бұрын

This video doesn't make ANY sense - isn't the point to have more energy than you need?

@user-ld7vk9bj6m Ай бұрын

Exactly. It's raining and I am not thirsty. Water Is Being Wasted!!!

@comicrandomness3289 29 күн бұрын

It's California. That's why you don't vote Democrat. Nema 2.0 made a lot of solar companies go under.

@OXHAMMERSTONE_NYC 27 күн бұрын

😂

@jfwfreo 26 күн бұрын

Supply of and demand for electricity need to match to keep the grid stable.

@meowmeowbobo 24 күн бұрын

The grid need money. solar house doesnt pay money. grid break. it isnt a hard concept to grasp.

@Saiyajin47621 Ай бұрын

That’s a good news. Without the panels, the sunlight will be put to waste anyway 😂

@oyajitricker Ай бұрын

Lol exactly, makes no sense.

@ChristianMartinez-co1vb 24 күн бұрын

Exactly, this video is brain dead

@BangaloreTrafficMadness Ай бұрын

So its a storage problem. Solve that in parallel

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

The solar companies should have to install their own storage rather than drive up electricity prices.

@chiquita683 Ай бұрын

Wait until the battery fires caused by "climate change"

@Allin7days Ай бұрын

The problem is already solved. Just need a huge investment to implement it.

@theelusive8058 Ай бұрын

That's what non-woke people have been trying to say for years. The woke just won't have anything to do with facts.

@hyronharrison8127 25 күн бұрын

Exactly

@Papous75 Ай бұрын

if it's so abundant, why is the price of electicity not going down?

@theforestisdark9676 Ай бұрын

Fun fact, the electricity companies are actually losing money so they're going to start charging a flat fee whether you use electricity or not or whether you save electricity or not.😊

@Eskoxo Ай бұрын

@@theforestisdark9676 at that point best to just disconnect if you have your own battery bank.

@spacegodfight Ай бұрын

Capitalism

@jmlinden7 Ай бұрын

The price you pay is a monthly average of the instantaneous price. So it includes the times when prices are negative, but also the times when prices spike (right after sunset every day).

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

@@spacegodfightPG&E is basically a government run SOE ar this point. This isn't capitalism at all.

@bullyboy131 Ай бұрын

Too much energy should mean cheaper energy for California.

@lovepack54 Ай бұрын

Why not just throw the excess into desalination?

@ronkorn8454 Ай бұрын

I thought of this as well. Did some rough math and found that you could desalinate about 171.7 billion gallons of water with the "thrown away" electricity, assuming about 4,000 kWh per cubic meter of water. Looking at an LA times article from 2022, LA sold about 14 billion gallons of water in August that year. Multiply by 12, and you have about 169 billion gallons of water consumed by the city in a year. Assuming California will throw away a similar amount of electricity for the rest of the year, this power could eliminate the need for ground/river water of two major cities.

@HHSGDFootballJPD Ай бұрын

Simply-- they don't have an extra desalination plant built yet to take the capacity.

@docwatson1134 Ай бұрын

Running a brand new desalination plant only four or five hours per day is an absolute non starter. The investment, and the income possible from selling the clean water...no one would build it with those sort of restrictions. The real answer is affordable electricity storage.

@ronkorn8454 Ай бұрын

@@docwatson1134 That's a good point, I was just curious on how the math worked out. The easiest solution would be some sort of energy storage, whether that be battery, synthetic natural gas, pumped hydro, or whatever other energy storage method of choice.

@ProfessorFickle 29 күн бұрын

@@ronkorn8454: Desalination is a Garbage idea, existing water canals are cleaner and Much cheaper .

@jackwindensky5606 Ай бұрын

I'm confused. They never mentioned what the actual problem was with having too much solar.

@grahameosheadrums Ай бұрын

@@jackwindensky5606 same. The sun is giving us this energy regardless of the panels, right? lol

@solargod3671 Ай бұрын

Because he would have said incorrect information on camera and he would have received emails and calls back on his data.

@THEhorihito Ай бұрын

I imagine heat is the problem.

@ace25805 Ай бұрын

Try pushing 10,000 gallons of water through a garden hose in a minute and see what happens to the hose. Same thing with electricity and the wires used to distribute that power. If solar provides too much power to the grid, wires will melt.

@JacktheSmack Ай бұрын

@@ace25805 That's not really the problem. Voltage is the pressure, and there must be a certain voltage maintained. Too much voltage would damage devices across the grid. It could also affect the frequency, thereby causing damage or other unforeseen issues.

@madbug1965 Ай бұрын

Why are our PG&E electrical bills so high?

@heyaisdabomb Ай бұрын

Cause the CEO's pay went through the roof.

@razorburn7745 Ай бұрын

Because the state determined they were too big to fail, and instead of paying for the destruction of Paradise themselves, they get to pass the costs on to us through rate hikes.

@Chad_Max Ай бұрын

Bc you liberal clowns passed legislation that phased out coal and nuclear energy sources as options which leaves only natural gas as a greater than 50% market share for energy supply. So this means you electric bill is directly linked to the cost of natural gas which became exportable through liquid natural gas. So now natural gas is more susceptible to global economic forces. In other words, if the price of natural gas is high on the global market then your electricity bill will cost you more. See how economics all works? It’s why you have to do your due diligence when voting and why progressive politicians love to sell their constituents on single phrase concepts like “corporate greed” when the answer is more complex…

@MH_6160 Ай бұрын

@@heyaisdabomb Yup, an ungodly amount… what was it, 52 million? Or 31 million.

@steven4315 Ай бұрын

One thing about wind and solar is you pay most of the costs up front. Most of the cost of a fossil fuel plant is fuel that you pay for as you use it.

@landon1626 Ай бұрын

I really feel like this is a really SIMPLE fix 😂😂😂.... more energy storage facilities duh

@winchestersons6258 Ай бұрын

Added a bunch of panels at my house and added a battery backup. Its the only way to do it. Looking to get a power wall

@ethanpower9245 27 күн бұрын

I can help you with that I just installed a powerwall 3 recently

@winchestersons6258 27 күн бұрын

Might with you in the future. Thanks

@ethanpower9245 27 күн бұрын

@@winchestersons6258 sounds good. Btw nice 71 super on your page, did you get it restored? 73 beetle with a 1915 here🙌

@davidrandall2742 Ай бұрын

This is what battery back up is for.

@ridemfast7625 Ай бұрын

Paid for by the home owner. While still paying grid connection fees that are doubling next year and will increase more. Unless your off grid. And the making and then disposing of batteries is not green. So which is it. Is California green or brown like sheit...

@davidrandall2742 29 күн бұрын

@@ridemfast7625 - No, many solar and wind facilities have large, industrial-sized battery storage. Batteries are lasting longer than expected, and are recyclable.

@ridemfast7625 29 күн бұрын

@@davidrandall2742 HAHAHA Sure... As if no theirs pollutants and mining involved and China has an EPA or other govt regulations...

@davidrandall2742 29 күн бұрын

@@ridemfast7625 - Next to the military, the biggest use of cobalt and rare earth metals is for catalysts in the oil-refining process, and has been for decades; the mines didn't start for batteries.

@kasondaleigh Ай бұрын

Outdated infrastructure because energy companies are too cheap to update and innovate. Grid upkeep should be mandated and regulated.

@benjamindees Ай бұрын

I'll give you an opportunity to expound on that thought first.

@Jabpancho-om9sd 29 күн бұрын

You are wrong, regulated, investor-owned utility companies generally, only make their profits by investing in new or replacement plant assets. In theory, the actual cost to produce and deliver electricity (operation & maintenance expense) is a pass through at cost. A component of the rate structure billed to customers for use, in addition to operation & maintenance expense, is the Return-on-Investment component which gives the utility the opportunity to earn a regulatory-set % return on the amounts invested (by shareholders) in utility plant. Non-regulated, like government owned, is a different story. They may not be as willing to invest in new or replacement infrastructure

@user-uk1uu9vt8z Ай бұрын

In Australia now. We were told to get solar, then we got paid for adding power to the grid . Now in Sydney , you’ll get fined for putting power into the grid in peak producing hours … You can’t win it …

@MuzzaHukka 29 күн бұрын

Can you automate the process of cutting off feed into the grid whenever it'd lead to you being penalised?

@user-uk1uu9vt8z 29 күн бұрын

@@MuzzaHukka not sure , it’s a great idea .

@thedownwardmachine Ай бұрын

Fun fact: hydro power is basically a giant battery, since they can release more or less water as power is needed. It's also clean solar energy and renewable.

@frequentlycynical642 26 күн бұрын

Alert the media! /s

@Mike-zk7rh Ай бұрын

sell it to data centers...they are power hungry

@User-54631 Ай бұрын

So is AI and bitcoin

@triage2962 Ай бұрын

That is not how it works. Energyproduction has to meet demand every millisecond.

@m-m-9000 Ай бұрын

@@triage2962I call BS on that

@triage2962 Ай бұрын

@@m-m-9000 That is how it works you can inform yourself.

@crosstudio Ай бұрын

@@triage2962 did you not see the battery storage boxes right there in the video? do you not know that you can have a battery installed in your basement or garage and go 100% solar from spring through fall in most of the US but especially the west coast and south.

@PCRyder Ай бұрын

For once. A good problem California has.

@stuwest3653 Ай бұрын

Not a good problem.

@mtb416 Ай бұрын

What? Not at all. This means millions, if not billions, in improper investment.

@PCRyder Ай бұрын

@@mtb416 Finding a use for excess clean energy is better than the plethera of other issues california suffers from. Where have you been?

@audi.6106 Ай бұрын

If thats true then why are we still having so many blackouts?

@stuwest3653 Ай бұрын

@@PCRyder Just because you perceive a particular issue as less important than any other does not make it a "good problem" In fact no problems are considered to be good. Nice try but you would be better off simply deleting your ignorant comment than making pathetic excuses that don't make sense.

@mikerozadilla7544 28 күн бұрын

It’s not too much solar it’s not enough batteries

@GregBirkin 29 күн бұрын

Luckily I have a power storage solution at home and run off the batteries when they’re charged by the solar panels.

@shipwreck8847 Ай бұрын

Transfer it to battery storage until it needs to be used during the hours that it is needed.

@secretweapon7764 Ай бұрын

That's what they are doing. New batteries are being added like crazy.

@romanboi3115 Ай бұрын

That way all the small environmental gains can be nullified by batteries! Use nuclear power.

@secretweapon7764 Ай бұрын

@@romanboi3115 A new nuclear plant takes 10-15 years to build and nobody wants it near their home. A new solar installation can be built in a fraction of the time in almost any open space. Fossil fuels are causing damage here and NOW while tyrants hold the world hostage with their oil reserves. No solution is perfect, but new battery tech will eventually let batteries be made with better materials for less money. Something like sodium batteries may be a good match for large grid storage.

@johnsutherland7561 Ай бұрын

@@romanboi3115 Nuclear not cost effective

@romanboi3115 Ай бұрын

@@johnsutherland7561 Neither is "Green" Energy, its only built because the government offsets the cost with subsidies. Nuclear is better in every regard and dosent require millions of unrecyclable lithium batteries

@audio_tron Ай бұрын

Too much solar electricity generation and sky high electric bills. Frustrating.

@ace25805 Ай бұрын

What is worse is that PG&E will take that free excess solar energy that came off someones roof and PAY Arizona to take it from California "to protect the grid". Not only are Calfornians paying outragous electric bills, they also subsidize powering other states. From LA Times "California invested heavily in solar power. Now there's so much that other states are sometimes paid to take it. On 14 days during March, Arizona utilities got a gift from California: free solar power. Well, actually better than free. California produced so much solar power on those days that it paid Arizona to take excess electricity its residents weren’t using to avoid overloading its own power lines."

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

The former caused the latter.

@petert3355 Ай бұрын

I wonder if you can figure out why that is.... Hint, baseload generators like coal, take a week or so to fire up.

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

@@petert3355 Because the coal and gas power stations have to sit at low load or with fires banked and boilers steaming waiting for a cloud to pass over, even during peak renewables production. So you have to pay for electricity twice, even when you don't need it due to curtailment contracts.

@petert3355 Ай бұрын

@gregorymalchuk272 and that people is exactly the right answer. Fuel costs for the solar backup are 24/7, but income from that fuel expended is not. Makes things expensive.

@haruruben Ай бұрын

“We’re not making enough profits!- ban solar” - that guy

@WheresTheTuna 29 күн бұрын

There's enough extra energy in CA that we can power San Francisco for a year but everyone is still paying crazy rates for electricity? 🤔 SCAM

@JBoy340a 22 күн бұрын

The issue is when that energy is produced. Without some way to store it if it cannot be used at that second it is waste. That is why batteries or other storage solutions are critical.

@grapesvine Ай бұрын

I rather have too much energy rather than not enough energy. My guess is they should lower the price of energy so people would use more of it.

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

You pay for the energy you DON'T use when you have too much energy. You don't understand curtailment.

@MissLibertarian Ай бұрын

Unexpected? I thought it was obvious. When I installed my solar, I told them to put half of the panels facing east and half of them facing west, because I knew one or the other could become more valuable once more people had solar. PG&E was paying more for afternoon Solar, but there was no guarantee that that would always be true. Someday the governor will get on the radio and tell everyone to turn on the air conditioner. Instead of brown outs we’ll have excess. Having panels on my roof also shade the roof and reduces heat inside. I don’t actually have air-conditioning. I don’t think the popular kids are really capable of doing science or managing money or engineering a better world.

@MarkFirstList Ай бұрын

All these articles about how AI uses so much energy... And this is a problem. Well, extra energy can be used for that and the batteries will create a new game. Can't believe the negativity here

@Blingchachink Ай бұрын

Good tip, half facing west half east. Ty

@HHSGDFootballJPD Ай бұрын

I felt it was too. We've had solar panel technology for at least 30 years. But we need the overcapacity today so we can decarbonize more things in the future, like TV watching when the sun goes down in December or daily commuting.

@ridemfast7625 Ай бұрын

Actually South provides the most production. PGE gives credits on production and those credits are applied at anytime day or night. It does not matter what the rates are because the credits apply them same and are not rate based.

@lumberjackdreamer6267 Ай бұрын

@@HHSGDFootballJPD The excess solar energy can be used to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This video is misleading. It’s actually a good thing, it shows the success of solar farms.

@DanielBrownOre Ай бұрын

To sum it up: they need to continue to deploy LFP battery banks, ASAP. These are cheap, very long lasting, don't need precious metals and very safe. The ones for EV's are rapidly evolving for energy density but regular old LFP can be a great cost effective storage solution. CA and TX have already alleviated the worst parts of their grid issues with them, funny how the news reports only the negative side for clicks!

@user-ch7kb7pe5r Ай бұрын

You know the bottom line is that we’d rather have houses using our power rather than the solar power.

@deenyc1049 Ай бұрын

The only problem is oil companies can’t profit from this excess energy.

@GS-oc6ve Ай бұрын

But hydrogen producing companies could.

@Supergirllrubylove Ай бұрын

If you’re going to come to ca and visit the rich areas only … please do a complete story so far this year we had no rolling black outs , that was no where in the story . don’t spin the story in a fully negative way . Please report the truth . Thank you .

@lambertlum1087 Ай бұрын

This has nothing to do with rolling black outs. The rolling black outs were caused by lack of power generation. At that time, power generation was entirely natural gas. When they brought more natural gas plants online, the problem was solved. Solar wasn't a thing until later, made possible through cheaper solar panels.

@antiratrace Ай бұрын

Don't count on corporate media reporting the truth.

@collinsfriend1 Ай бұрын

The one rolling brown out they had last year in the Bay Area, they determined AFTER that it wasn't needed and done in error.

@ridemfast7625 Ай бұрын

So a win to you is PGE with Democrat controlled California/Newscum and corrupt CPUC providing the service we pay for and not eF'in up... smh

@Rhaspun 27 күн бұрын

We haven't had any rolling black outs. Look at the recent high temperatures across the state. There's no talk about brown outs. There have been power shut downs for a few areas due to wild fire danger. Right now everything is clicking. It was during the drought years is when we had threats of brown outs since there wasn't enough water to run a few of the hydro powered generators.

@Ironcorgi2 Ай бұрын

This segment feels like it was written by the oil, gas and coal industries lol

@chriswilliams8607 Ай бұрын

Nope, not too much solar, not enough EVs on the road, and not enough battery storage. That's need to be fixed ASAP!!

@Butte_r Ай бұрын

There should’ve been incentives for battery packs in conjunction with solar panels

@nicksgarage2 Ай бұрын

There are, just sometimes hard to get.

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

Make solar companies install the batteries.

@danielcarroll3358 Ай бұрын

There is a 30% federal tax credit for home batteries. And the solar companies are in the business of installing them. Just ask. Make them happy.

@LordSaliss 28 күн бұрын

There technically was, but it had a MAJOR gatchya to it. If you took their $1200~ cash rebate for installing a battery you were forced to be on a plan that pays you out really bad rates for having solar, and if you want to switch off that terrible plan within 5 years to actually get your investment back then you owed the CPUC their money rebate back.

@gregorymalchuk272 28 күн бұрын

@@danielcarroll3358 The government shouldn't be subsidizing this energy-negative nightmare.

@MrNiceGuy485 Ай бұрын

So we have the power, but we need storage. They first complained there wasn't enough energy for EV's and now theyre saying this lol

@ace25805 Ай бұрын

Most people charge their EVs at night when rates are cheapest, so technically there still isn't enough solar power to charge EVs if every vehicle in California was electric due to lack of grid storage. The few grid storage batteries Calfornia has invested in have had some serious issues, so much so that cities are voting no on allowing new grid storage batteries in their city. We need better and safer batteries for grid storage before it will be widely accepted. Lithium is not the answer.

@trentgay3437 Ай бұрын

Who is they?

@strawpiglet Ай бұрын

@@ace25805Are they cheapest at night? I don’t think so anymore, not in California. That was before solar. Now during the day most people are at work and a lot of solar power is going unused.

@MrNiceGuy485 Ай бұрын

@@trentgay3437 the DOE

@MrNiceGuy485 Ай бұрын

@ace25805 idk who told you this, but they lied to you. Energy demand is highest in the evening.

@cyberking1128 29 күн бұрын

Amazing how there's too much energy to go around but the price keeps going up. Remember to defraud your local power company folks.

@willeisinga2089 Ай бұрын

Store Solar Power in Electric Cars. Cheap Electric Cars made in China solve the problem.

@340wbymag Ай бұрын

The problem isn't too much solar power. The problem is that there are not yet enough batteries to store that extra energy.

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

Then the solar companies should be forced to install the batteries.

@danielcarroll3358 Ай бұрын

Fortunately, the 30% federal tax credit has been extended to batteries, at least until 2030. NEM 3.0 certainly encourages it. I am under NEM 2.0 as my solar was installed several years ago and can use the grid as a battery. From 3 to 9 pm power costs more, so, since I don't yet have batteries, I lower the water heater temp 5 degrees during that time so it won't run. I'm watching battery tech development carefully to see when to add batteries. The difference between the two NEM types is that NEM 2.0 is averaged over the whole year and NEM 3.0 is averaged over six minute periods. In both types if you produce more (in that period) you earn wholesale rate. If you use more you pay retail. I earn a couple of hundred dollars per year for my excess of 2,000 kW-hr.

@dzcav3 Ай бұрын

Batteries are EXTREMELY expensive.

@user-jb2om7cm8m Ай бұрын

If batteries were economically viable- they'd be great for conventional power also. You could build a much smaller plant that didn't have to handle peak loads directly. Simply store power generated during low demand in a magic box and release it when needed. It doesn't work and it never will.

@340wbymag Ай бұрын

@@user-jb2om7cm8m In the past, battery storage on a large scale would have been far too expensive to be practical, but that has changed. The cost and efficiency of battery storage on a large scale has dropped dramatically, and large-scale battery use is now being used around the world more and more every day. Take a look at Australia and their use of batteries. China is another great example, and yes, even here in the US it is becoming more common BECAUSE IT WORKS. Billions of dollars are being invested in batteries. I even have one in my home.

@cmdrls212 Ай бұрын

Only under Capitalism is free energy a problem.

@agisler87 Ай бұрын

But it's not free.. someone must maintain the power lines. There are hundreds if not thousands of other jobs that must be performed to keep the power grid running.

@rsybing Ай бұрын

It's only from problems that opportunities, like harvesting that free energy, arise. Pointing out those problems is not a bad thing, nor is it a flaw of capitalism.

@craig8638 Ай бұрын

@@agisler87 they already have the powerlines and infrastructure to maintain them. We the customers who installed solar provide them with energy energy, and they buy it from us for pennies on the dollar compared to what they sell it back to people who don’t have solar for. Yeah it wasn’t free. I put solar on my roof and PG&E screws me.

@markplott4820 Ай бұрын

NOT , nearly enough GRID battery storage. problem FIXED .

@dawsonholdsworth5371 Ай бұрын

I think you mean physics. Energy storage of solar or wind reduces the produced amount by alot. Best way to get it to work is by water reservoirs that release and generate Hydro power on off producing hours. This isn't capitalism fault. It's A to D policy that forgets about transition first before going fully cold turkey.

@taniksambo1969 29 күн бұрын

First there wasn't enough now there's too much. Wanted everyone to get solar but now don't want people to get solar.

@daniellarusso8012 Ай бұрын

Having too much clean energy is a good problem to have. Also, shouldn't this result in lower energy costs/prices? :)

@tendieman69 Ай бұрын

And PG&E still charges 50c/kwh …. Greeds

@thang1742 Ай бұрын

its actually .50-.65 now

@orbiradio2465 29 күн бұрын

Seriously? In Germany I pay 0.36 USD/kWh (plus fixed 11USD/month) and some politicians claim, that we have the highest electricty rates in the world due to the energy transformation.

@ethanpower9245 27 күн бұрын

I have seen some edison rates get up go .72 cents

@frequentlycynical642 26 күн бұрын

Due to Texas's weird but effective market based options for many users, I buy 100% renewable electricity for just under 15 cents kw/hr. The cost is almost exactly evenly split between the cost of the electricity itself and the other half for the grid operations. Why it would cost PB&E over three times that to deliver electricity is strange. It would be more accurate to compare costs of LA's DWP because it is non-profit. They have a history of doing what is right for the customer and not for share holders. Think Enron and PG&E several decades ago.

@JBoy340a 22 күн бұрын

Solar and batteries meant our bill went from $400/mo. to $10/mo. Essentially, we pay only the grid connection fee.

@MH_6160 Ай бұрын

So if they are over producing, there should be no issue to up fit our power grid… batteries are the way, I added one and it made a huge difference in my usage vs production.

@naturaltexan6970 29 күн бұрын

So California ONLY uses solar for power? Or do they shut down all other sources. Like wind and hydro, before “throwing away” solar energy. 🤔

@JBoy340a 22 күн бұрын

No Solar is just a part of the mix. It is getting to be more and more which is why there is a need for more storage.

@fozzir 29 күн бұрын

We pay 50 cent a KW in San Diego and there's a surplus of power? What happened to supply and demand? They never should have all but banned home install of solar as well, that hasn't helped either.

@grahameosheadrums Ай бұрын

Can Texas have some of this? We're always losing power. Good on you California for all the clean energy and showing the world how efficient it is. It's so good that you have too much.

@maurygoldblat8982 Ай бұрын

Texas has an independent grid and it works great. With the exception of the 2021 snow-pocalypse, and the occasional severe thunderstorm, Texas has very reliable energy. And at half the cost per kwh as California, this seems like a grass is always greener situation. Texas produces nearly twice as much energy as it uses, and prices are kept low through deregulation on the independent grid system.

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

California has had summer capacity induced blackouts for several years now.

@grahameosheadrums Ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 I just googled the California blackouts. Sorry this is something you’re all dealing with. I’m a fan of clean energy so I hope this all gets figured out soon.

@danielcarroll3358 Ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 We haven't had capacity induced blackouts for a few years. There are blackouts to prevent fires though. Those are being reduced as local emergency generators and underground power lines are extended by the power companies. When it gets real hot there are sometimes requests to reduce power use in the late afternoon and early evening. People are pretty good about that, especially as the rates are higher then.

@JBoy340a 22 күн бұрын

Texas made a decision to disconnect from the 3 nationwide grids. So they cannot get power from elsewhere unlike the rest of the country. Speak to you legislator about that or vote them out.

@mistervo8185 Ай бұрын

Build more storage centers

@albertoserrano67 Ай бұрын

There technically isn't a reasonable way to do that without reasonable costs across the state e.g. taxes building infrastructure and time lapse , it shoulda been planned for years ago

@Kenny49ERS Ай бұрын

Good luck

@reptilionsarehere Ай бұрын

I just watched some story about this exact thing happening in Australia, except they've started charging people that produce too much energy with their solar lol.

@MirceaKitsune Ай бұрын

What storage centers? We're talking about homes, those aren't flashlights you can power off batteries... what the heck is wrong with today's world 😂

@nspro931 Ай бұрын

Why don't you build the storage centers? Instead of trying to boss other people.

@snowturtle6858 18 күн бұрын

I wonder how much it cost to figure out people don't use electricity when not at home

@Ryan-zv6yl Ай бұрын

They left out the part that fossil fuel plants take up to 24 hours to spin up. So even when solar is accounting for 100% of energy generation they are still burning fossil fuels to keep the plants up for when solar goes away, like at night. So those plants are still having to run 24-7

@thomaskillian1501 Ай бұрын

It can exported to neighboring states You can use it to charge your EV HVAC systems don’t stop when you leave your home they need to install battery energy storage so it can be used at night Many solutions. Don’t like how the media portrays this as an issue

@GroundByte Ай бұрын

well its more of an infrastructure problem, not really a demand issue. Not enough capacity to move power to where its need and not enough capacity to store it. Ireland had a similar issue couple years back where overproduction was causing issues with the power grid itself, and they fixed it by limiting new solar installation while at the same time they upgraded sections of their power grid so that solar can be better utilized. So more wires, and substations along side expanding power storage should do the trick. Not to mention improve the state's ability to export that energy as well with upgrades to the power grid which is also likely being limited by the current state of the power grid.

@brandonsmith8235 Ай бұрын

If only there were a company creating an enormous amount of energy storage that you could invest in.

@Bb-br3xg Ай бұрын

Exactly Tesla

@wrslss Ай бұрын

I got mine, TSLA all the way baby.

@dgsantafedave1 Ай бұрын

Elon Musk is not one of the darlings of the left so they shut him out of installing more mega batteries. Newsom is waiting on his China buddies to come up with a viable alternative!

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

Why not force solar companies to DO that rather than dumping the cost of firming onto the grid as a negative externality.

@mikafiltenborg7572 Ай бұрын

TSLA. Megapack 🔋🔋🔋🔋🔋🔋🔋😉

@harryniedecken5321 Ай бұрын

It isn't too much solar, the panels are facing the wrong direction. They need to be pointed at the sun at 5 pm.

@wc4109 27 күн бұрын

Solar power generation should always come with battery storage…. I’m surprised solar companies only sell 1/2 a product…

@tube-vt4hl Ай бұрын

Complete BS

@1stKeepFocus Ай бұрын

Interesting. Why is energy still expensive?

@romanboi3115 Ай бұрын

Because it isnt nuclear, and its only "affordable" Because of the government subsidies

@MrBushMan Ай бұрын

California should build a bunch of water desalination plants and power them during those times

@taytay-y5v Ай бұрын

I'm confused. Is there anything negative thats happens as a result of the power not being used? I watched the whole video and I still don't see a newsworthy problem.

@yetifive-oh2242 Ай бұрын

But PG&E is still raising rates

@dizmix Ай бұрын

Then no one should be paying for energy.

@starventure Ай бұрын

How will PG&E pay their shareholders then?

@user-fm6ns5nb4j Ай бұрын

You would think that variable pricing for users would help alleviate the problem - if you had negative pricing for electricity then I'm sure a lot of companies and individuals would consume more, given the opportunity.

@dawsonholdsworth5371 Ай бұрын

@@user-fm6ns5nb4j Negative rates have been tried before. The problems other places have tried come from the kilowatt hour cost. Either the government sets the price too high and people farm overpriced solar. Or the rate is too low, and no one wants to invest and maintain a grid.

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

Look up curtailment contracts and actually learn something. Renewables overproduction=high electricity prices.

@dawsonholdsworth5371 Ай бұрын

@sfchewgeo 29 күн бұрын

Too much electricity then lower the price and customer will use up the excess

@shainewinter8264 29 күн бұрын

Normal people: "you mean, throwing it away..." Businessmen/bureaucrats: "we say sending dispatch instructions" 😂😂😂

@wolveswithin4444 Ай бұрын

And this is a problem how? Non story. This is a good thing in my mind.

@ninjanerdstudent6937 Ай бұрын

Why don't they store the reserve power in batteries?

@josels1292 Ай бұрын

Batteries not included.

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

Solar private equity should pay for it.

@dawsonholdsworth5371 Ай бұрын

@@ninjanerdstudent6937 Because the size and cost to create and maintain would Ballon the price. And just make other forms of energy product more desirable

@danielcarroll3358 Ай бұрын

They do, but you need lots more batteries, or pumped hydro if you have two reservoirs near each other with a large elevation difference. California has both, but needs more.

@___Anakin.Skywalker 18 күн бұрын

Too much solar for Power companies cause they're not making money 😂😂

@glennmartin6492 Ай бұрын

A) Export it for money. B) Store it. Batteries, pumped storage or other. C) Power industrial activities. Smelting, processing, etc. Free energy will make a lot of stuff more affordable.

@redbananagreen Ай бұрын

Good. Now find storage!

@tfranke6011 Ай бұрын

Why don't you give it to Oregon, Nevada and other neighboring states? Start bringing it east...work forward

@triage2962 Ай бұрын

Not possible because it is overproduction so nobody needs it.

@kennethnelson4109 Ай бұрын

Transmission lines

@tfranke6011 Ай бұрын

@@kennethnelson4109 I kinda understand but I work for Georgia power and we also serve Alabama

@yessmoker 19 күн бұрын

Just charge EVs douring days when everybody at work dont tell my there is too much energy

@noammusk519 Ай бұрын

Why not throw away PG&E's electricity, when there's too much electricity? Why "curtail" solar instead? Let PG&E lay people off instead of these solar installation guys

@jimliu2560 Ай бұрын

Can’t California use the energy to mine Bitcoin and make some money $$$$. ?

@EhCloserLook Ай бұрын

Can solar panels not be turned off for a brief period of time during the middle of the day???

@pr5991 Ай бұрын

Yes it can be switched off, in Australia new solar inverters can be switched off remotely by grid operators, now more people are setting up their batteries to charge during day as feed in terrif is reduced to 3 cents per Kwh, and they charge 42cents per kwh, total rip off

@Lennyst Ай бұрын

I don't think so, but then again you could just cover them so the sun won't touch em.

@markplott4820 Ай бұрын

thats a pretty DUMB thing to do . BEST solution is GRID battery Storage .

@freespeech9059 Ай бұрын

@@EhCloserLook You have to manage your energy throughout the day/night. Canada would be needing more heat than Texas or Florida. Some places are off grid. It is a learning experience, no one can tell you exactly. It's not a perfect science.

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

Yes, but contracturally they can't be turned off. Renewables companies demand curtailment contracts which guarantees payment for all electricity produced regardless of electricity demand. So you pay double for electricity during these periods.

@Livlifetaistdeth Ай бұрын

This is what happens when interns with no actual understanding of the situation write the news

@youtubelearning2990 Ай бұрын

Right, cut the incentives for people being able to harness free power from the sun.

@JazzyBlueBird Ай бұрын

since when did anybody go "ohhh nooo we have TOO much free energy!!"... oh wait, the oil industry

@gregorymalchuk272 Ай бұрын

Solar private equity is profiting handsomely.

@TraJonR3D Ай бұрын

All progression has drawbacks. It's the price of POSITIVE CHANGE.

@coastalhillbilly3419 Ай бұрын

Hook, line and sinker 🐑 , ⛽️⚡️ no free rides

@ItsKyleMang Ай бұрын

It's all in the name of the greater good. 🤡

@miconthamicsalovem5487 27 күн бұрын

When there is an energy "dump"-Why arent all consumers alerted that this is the exact time,power is the cheapest it can ever be?

@TheGeorgeous Ай бұрын

Batteries and Energy Storage Solutions Please.

@joenobody5631 Ай бұрын

The program worked, so naturally they take it away. That's government for ya.

@agisler87 Ай бұрын

Yes, artificially lowering the price of anything will increase the demand. This often hurts the poor and only makes wealthier people richer.

@xXAscendingPhoenixXx Ай бұрын

More like it worked, but now their is excess, so now they have to build more storage centers because they’re creating a lot of energy and for the time being, those ince tubes are reduced to reduce wasted energy 🤷🏽‍♂️ Next time include the context buddy, instead of being disingenuous 😉 @joenobody5631

@xXAscendingPhoenixXx Ай бұрын

More like it worked, but now they have to create more storage centers, in the meantime taking away those incentives 🤷🏽‍♂️ Next time add the context buddy, or else you look disingenuous 😉 @joenobody5631😊

@litestuffllc7249 Ай бұрын

At peak hours there is more power than can be used; but that wouldn't be a problem if California had batteries to store it - they don't. They don't because there isn't enough lithium refined to make even close to enough batteries to power LA if you devoted ever ounce produced for 200 years. This is the critical fail point of Solar and Wind; they are peaky; they do not work most of the time; and if you can't store excess energy; it is wasted: then you have to revert to other eneryg sources for most of the day. The lack of sufficient cheap safe storage of energy is the achillies heal of the Solar/Wind dream.

@Ojames600 20 күн бұрын

I have solar and batteries, plus an electric car, I have places to dump my extra solar energy. Its a Win Win

@user-pn3hj1fn9h Ай бұрын

To much , not enough? Make up your mind.

@MusicByJC Ай бұрын

I live in a two-bedroom condo in Southern California. I work from home so air conditioning is on a lot of the time during the summer. My electricity bills goes over $500 for at least 3 months, maybe more. Why don't the reduce my cost when running it during the day. Instead, the cost goes up in increments.

@GroundByte Ай бұрын

well depends on the power company (which if its Edison or PG&E your likely paying for the company lost its lawsuits that total up to roughly a billion in damages that the companies passed on to you the consumer), and if there enough capacity to transfer all the excess energy to places that need it (which is likely the infrastructure is likely kneecapped and need in upgrades)

@puneetsingh691 Ай бұрын

it can exported to others states or even country like canada.

@nathanchandler18 Ай бұрын

We have enough, send it to other states lol

@griffinmccue6189 Ай бұрын

Canada? More likely Mexico, as that's much closer.

@deadlata9767 Ай бұрын

There is energy loss in transmission lines. They aren’t made of superconductors, so you actually can’t just send electricity thousands of miles effectively.

@keskarrs9962 Ай бұрын

In India, we pump water into a high reservoir when you need to store energy. Or you could heat Salt/Metals and use the heat for power generation later.

@Dfproductions865foryou Ай бұрын

Hydro batteries require a fairly specific topography and also an plenty of storable water, neither of which California really has. I think there are a number of decent technologies for storage like molten salt or possibly even hydrolysis, but they're costly to operate at the scale at which California is curtailing energy. These developments will hopefully come in the next decade, but right now battery storage is the most likely avenue.

@mckirkus Ай бұрын

When you get a bunch of these stories across the media where they do ridiculous things like "So you're saying you have to throw away the energy" it's pretty clear what's going on here.

@karnubawax Ай бұрын

Leave it to California to snatch defeat out of the hands of victory.

@xXAscendingPhoenixXx Ай бұрын

How are they “defeated” here exactly? 🤔

@shutinalley Ай бұрын

Too much solar or not enough intelligence? You decide.

@Neojhun Ай бұрын

Lots intelligent people creating Energy Wealth. That's what your brainwashing doesn't allow you to think. You want everyone to be energy poor.

@kenyonbissett3512 29 күн бұрын

Isn’t this the state with frequent rolling blackouts?

@alvilla701 22 күн бұрын

I have Over 20 years in California, I only remember 1 time without power that is worth mentioning, I don't remember exactly but I think it was for around 5 hours

@Myrkanth 29 күн бұрын

Where are the people who said this would never happen? They are the same people saying more energy is bad.

@tre017 24 күн бұрын

No one is throwing away energy. These utility companies are purposely not keeping these energy to make more money from paying customers

@ricardo230795 Ай бұрын

Having more energy being produced in an environmentally friendly way than people are using is not a problem. California's solar industry has been resiliant despite the governors and the utilities companies every effort to destroy the solar industry

@brandon8541 Ай бұрын

Also California- “let’s over charge the price of energy at 130% more than the national average”. Thank you PG&E.

@outlawblack123 Ай бұрын

So basically you will have to charge your EV in the day time

@mshark2205 Ай бұрын

What I can’t comprehend is the duck curve was absolutely predictable, but no one thought of taking care of it. Now solar is basically wasted, requiring additional investment in storage.

@MelsDiner115 27 күн бұрын

What’s crazy is that power cost STILL keeps going up! They buy dirt cheap power due to excess supply and still sell it 5x to regular customers. Just greed!