August 25, 2020
California, Letters, Ohio

California’s energy decisions are coming back to haunt it

Letter | The Columbus Dispatch | Aug 25, 2020 | www.dispatch.com

California is threatened with rolling blackouts again this fire season. It comes as surely as night follows day, given that the state has shut down much of its reliable power sources in favor of wind and solar. It’s widely known that these are both extremely expensive and unreliable.

So far, government response has been to double down on its bad decisions while explaining that in the short term it needs backup natural gas generators and batteries to store excess power generated at a time when demand is low.

We can share in California’s misfortune if we keep insisting that wind and solar power need to be an increasing part of our energy system. At some undetermined time in the distant future when we have developed significantly better battery technology and have found a way to capture a much higher percentage of the energy in sunlight, we can afford to gamble on renewable energy.

We will know it is time for green energy when private enterprise begins to invest its own money in green power generation. Most green power enterprises would not exist without government subsidies.

Let the research continue, as we really do need to find if this will ever be feasible. As of yet, it is not. If you think otherwise, just look at California.

Darryl Hiestand, Lancaster

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/08/25/californias-energy-decisions-are-coming-back-to-haunt-it/