California’s Energy Surplus

Californians pay a fixed rate for their energy grid, but the state has been harvesting a surplus to the point that operators are forced to offload the energy to neighboring states that purchase it at a discount or even receive it free of cost. Governor Gavin Newsom praised California for advancing its energy storage by 1,250% since he took office, but it is not enough to attain current levels of energy and certainly not enough to reach the goal of going 100% renewable by 2045.

The Los Angeles Times found that Californians are now paying up to three times the national average for energy. The infrastructure simply is not in place to store or carry the amount of solar power generating, leading millions of dollars in energy waste. Southern California Edison and PG&E customers have experienced a 51% increase in costs over the last three years alone.

Still, the state is attempting to build MORE solar panels to reach its goal for 2045. Solar producers and grip operators are at odds. Solar farms have slowed energy production by 3 million megawatt hours in the last year, enough to power over half a million homes in California. The United State Energy Information Administration claims that power lines in many cases lack the capacity to deliver energy, and in other cases, the energy generated exceeds demand.

New Mexico, Oregon, Arizona, and Washington have all benefitted from California’s oversupply with cheap or free energy. California has the highest debt of any state in the nation. It cannot afford to lose money on this initiative. The state is ignoring the short-term while focusing on the lofty goal of achieving 100% renewable energy in the next 20 years. They sell renewables as a way to save but this is simply not the case for California residents who are paying more for a basic necessity.