Technology

Figuring out grid scale storage isn't easy, but the good thing about it is that you can figure out storage at slightly smaller scales to alleviate the problem somewhat, and build on that success to try to get to daily storage to meet nighttime demand, then up to weekly storage to handle fluctuations in weather, and maybe even seasonal storage to deal with seasonal variation in both supply and demand.

But storage doesn't have to just be chemical batteries, either. Some can be demand shifting, like desalination or water pumping based on excess power supply. Maybe even intermittently powering direct air capture of CO2 if there's so much excess energy they don't know what to do with it. Some can be storage of heat, whether really hot like molten salt that can run turbines for dispatchable electricity, or just at the residential scale with a bunch of distributed hot water tanks, or everything in between. There are also some storage technologies relying on gravity (pumped hydro if the geography supports it), compressed air, flywheels (could be important for maintaining grid inertia for stability).

And there's always curtailment, where you just don't generate the power, and turn off some the panels in the middle of the day.

And this involves only driving in summer when there is excess energy? Or getting through winter by storing enough hydrogen to make the Beirut explosion look like a firecracker in comparison?

Which also has the additional benefit for homeowners of local backup power in the case of a blackout :)

CA has a for-profit energy sector so that's not surprising. They aren't lowering bills there for anything short of the apocalypse.

What's also interesting to me is that we here in Utah used to (and maybe still do?) sell dirty electricity to CA (we produce a lot from coal and gas), because they didn't have sufficient base supply.

CA really needs effective base power supply, whether that's batteries or some other clean-ish energy source/storage solution. Meanwhile, electricity here in Utah is quite cheap at $0.12/kWh-ish, which is nice, and something like 1/3 of what CA charges.

Personally, I said fuck the grid and built my own solar power without it. I have separate grid power too.

Obama tried to push grid upgrades for years, kept getting shot down. His plans would all be done by now. Throw in the fuel economy requirements of 54.5 mpg requirements for cars and light trucks and we would have seen billions of barrels of oil not being needed. (Lower gas prices as well). Granted it wasn't everything, but it was what we needed to start doing. Now 13, 14 years later after Trump rolled back those fuel efficiency policies as much as he could because it cost manufacturers more money in research, we are much closer to a rock we can't live on and haven't advanced nearly enough. So we voted in Drill Baby Drill to finish off the rock.

Sometimes the best way to get things done is to wedge your way in and cause a problem. It sucks, but humans be humaning

Yup it's the same here in Germany where more and more households have been taking energy production into their own hands. Soon energy companies will only be in charge of distribution and storage, but I doubt this will make things much cheaper for long unless we cut private companies out of the process completely.

Sounds like you should be in the market for an electric boiler and induction cooktop.

You could save money on gas by not washing your balls every morning, seeing as you're planning on getting the energy company execs to suck them anyway.