> California has, by far, the largest share of solar in the mix. Grid-scale solar PV and concentrated solar plants covered 16.6% of the state’s electricity needs over the 12-month period, and rooftop solar another 11.3%. Those systems are backed by 7GW of storage capacity.
California absolutely killed their rooftop solar program. There’s been a massive drop in installs.
To add to your point, PG&E, the largest provider in the state, has had massive annual cost increases and has yet another one on the docket in 2024, even while it successfully gutted rooftop solar in the state.
They are now introducing (this has passed, it is happening) a rate schedule based on income meaning to pay your power bill you have to provide accurate income numbers to them.
It is also illegal to disconnect from their power service in California if you already have it.
What’s happening with renewable power in California is a warning to other states, not a model to be looked to for inspiration. High prices, illegal to unplug, the shredding of rooftop solar programs, income-based pricing and the data collection of this information (which I’m sure will never get used for anything else now that they have integrated income-based automatic billing) on every rate payer, etc.
We continue to have models like SMUD, Roseville Energy, and many others. Smud, which operates right next to PG&E, offers cutting edge solar programs, high levels of renewables and delivers it for 54% less on average.
RE "......Eleven US states now get over half their electricity from renewables ...." It is a interesting statement. However, it needs to be ALL the time. Somehow I assume it is not. It is a much GREATER achievement if the time period includes several days of weather that does not support renewable generation - ie several continuous cloudy days and several days of no wind.
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[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 19.6 ms ] threadhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Gas_and_Electric_Compa...
California absolutely killed their rooftop solar program. There’s been a massive drop in installs.
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/californias-rooft...
To add to your point, PG&E, the largest provider in the state, has had massive annual cost increases and has yet another one on the docket in 2024, even while it successfully gutted rooftop solar in the state.
They are now introducing (this has passed, it is happening) a rate schedule based on income meaning to pay your power bill you have to provide accurate income numbers to them.
It is also illegal to disconnect from their power service in California if you already have it.
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/06/california-i...
https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/pge-rate-increas...
What’s happening with renewable power in California is a warning to other states, not a model to be looked to for inspiration. High prices, illegal to unplug, the shredding of rooftop solar programs, income-based pricing and the data collection of this information (which I’m sure will never get used for anything else now that they have integrated income-based automatic billing) on every rate payer, etc.
We continue to have models like SMUD, Roseville Energy, and many others. Smud, which operates right next to PG&E, offers cutting edge solar programs, high levels of renewables and delivers it for 54% less on average.
https://www.smud.org/en/Rate-Information/Compare-rates
California is a broken model and it’s almost entirely due to regulatory capture in the state. People should be aware! And beware!