CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS…SAVE ENERGY!

The United States two most populous states are asking it citizens to reduce power usage this week for
fears that they will not be able to meet the energy demand. This means that over 68.5 million people
are at risk of potentially losing power during the heat wave.
In California, the demand for energy will outpace generation. California often turns to its neighbors for
help, but with much of the west facing high heat, there will be less energy available to import. California
also has struggled in replacing generation from coal and gas plants taken off-line for environmental
concerns. It is not that green energy is not working, they just failed to replace fossil fuels at an adequate
level. The demands during hot weather events stress the system’s capacity keep up with demand.
Texas currently has over 12,000 MW of generation offline during record setting demand. According to
the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, demand will outpace supply this week. This is the same
organization that performed miserably during this year’s winter storms. Taking down this level of
generation in mid-June seems reckless. Like California, the irregularity of renewables plays a role in
generation inconsistencies.
It is surprising that the two most populist states in the U.S., with all their resources, still face ongoing
issues on a regular basis.