California paying a price for relying on alternative energy

 Washington Examiner:

States across the West are at risk of electricity shortages because an extreme drought is crimping the amount of water used to generate hydropower, a dominant energy source in that part of the country.

About half of the total utility-scale hydroelectricity generation capacity in the United States is concentrated in Washington, California, and Oregon, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Hydroelectricity generation typically varies based on precipitation levels, but California is being especially challenged by extreme heat and dry weather.

California officials have said its reservoir system has seen an unprecedented loss of runoff this spring due to a reduced amount of snowpack and precipitation feeding rivers and streams, according to the Wall Street Journal. Water levels at Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, have fallen to 41% of capacity.

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The California Department of Water Resources operates eight major hydroelectric facilities that are forecast this year to be about 30% of their 10-year average generation, the agency said. California also imports hydropower from across the Pacific Northwest, but exports from other states are constrained because of low water levels.

PG&E, a California utility, cut its use of water for its hydropower network this spring in anticipation of a hot summer, the Wall Street Journal reported. The utility says it is prepared to rely more on other forms of generation, including wind, solar, and natural gas.

The California Independent System Operator, or CAISO, which oversees the state’s grid, asked customers on Friday to conserve energy for the second time in a week as the heat drives up demand for power.

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In the past, California has also dumped water into the ocean to help the Delta Smelt rather than farmers.  What they are finding is alternative energy has its limits and is at the mercy of the weather.  Wind and solar are also unreliable because of weather events. Biden's hostility to oil and gas could see the whole country at the mercy of unreliable alternative energy.