Yup, I am part of the problem. I chose to live in California. I have however invested significant amounts in reducing energy consumption (insulation, HE appliances, and low flow), changing electric consumption (EV), solar, and locally grown food.
I do feel that this us vs. them mentality on solar vs. non-solar power that Rep. Gonzalez and others are agitating about loses sight of the individual investments that were made to add solar to the grid. Home solar wasn't paid for by the IOU, and it wasn't paid for by low income residents. It was partially paid for by high and upper middle income wage earners nationally via taxes and the ITC, but mostly it was paid by the owners who put their money where their mouths are. As an individual, the investment sucks. Buying TSLA or AAPL or SGY would have been better on an IRR basis. Way better. Would I have put even more on my roof, if I were allowed? "Oh yeah". My part to nudge the country and world along.
@wwu123 I agree. California has evolved since the sixties; the air is cleaner, the power is cleaner, water usage is down per capita statewide (with a few outlier regions like Bel-Air and some of the Central Valley and those Bay Area regions that keep their lawns, and keep them green),
energy usage is down per capita, and overall energy use is down to nearly what it was in the seventies. Someone may have the cash to have a green lawn, but it is a waste of water in a desert ecosystem, and morally wrong. In my book, if you want a lawn, live somewhere where it rains frequently. If you live in a Mediterranean climate, plant Mediterranean plants around your home. How many homes in Greece or Morocco have lawns?
Do California homes need more insulation? "Oh yeah, baby". Should we have a statewide initiative again to improve home energy efficiency? I think so, and let's learn from the mistakes made last time. Caulking and weatherstripping isn't sexy, but it is important and would put lots of folks to work in a trade. (Californians are so blasé about spiders wandering around in their homes, because there are so many ways for them to walk in. It always amazes me.) Should California homes be required to be designed to shed summer sun? "Of course." I am not throwing rocks at glass houses here, but many of these issues are not unique to California. Hopefully, better energy efficiency and cleaner power is something that we can all get behind.
Now, if you want to talk about the elephant in the room, let's talk clean water, piping, sewage, and sewers, and oh yeah, those little levee things in the Central Valley. People forget that it has flooded from Sacramento to Bakersfield in historic memory, and if a major levee breaks in the spring, it will again. It would be a toxic soup, and agriculture will be very different for decades.
As to why PG&E seems to have it in for the neighbor of
@holeydonut I have no clue. It would seem from the outside to be an effort with little returns, but clearly I am missing something. Then again, I don't understand why PG&E took such exception to
@holeydonut's battery installation either. (Conspiracy alert: Perhaps the hidden elephant there is that the local grid is already overloaded, and all the EVs and solar are set to melt the local wires, and PG&E doesn't want to fess up.
)
All the best,
BG