FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK: Why The Threats Of Rolling Blackouts?

By VERNON ROBISON

Over the past couple of weeks, the western U.S. has experienced a severe heat wave. The high temperatures were miserable of course. But it wasn’t just the heat that had folks stressed out all across the west. During a period of about 10 days, there was also a pervading uncertainty on whether there would be rolling power outages through some of the hottest parts of the day. Purveyors of power from all across the west were appealing to their customers to voluntarily use less energy during the the hours of 5 and 9 pm, the usual hours of peak usage. If people didn’t conserve, parts of the grid would have to go dark for a time, they warned.

That tactic seemed to work this time, especially as it was implemented by Overton Power District (OPD5). Voluntary conservation amounted to about 3 percent less power used locally, according to OPD5 officials. That kind of conservation across the west shaved off just enough peak usage to avoid any major outages. But it was touch and go on several of those days; certainly too close for comfort.

But why did this weather event among all others, threaten to bring the western power grid so close to crisis? What has changed in recent years to bring us to the brink this way? These are complex questions, but they are worth answering.

Supply
Firstly, the way that electrical power is produced has undergone a major change in the past decade or so. Environmentalist policies have taken us away from reliable baseload power sources like coal, nuclear and even hydro-power; switching these out for renewable sources like solar and wind power.

Who has led the charge in this sea change? The State of California, of course. California has set a Renewables Portfolio Standard to force a 60 percent statewide renewable energy quota by 2030. This standard actually calls for 100 percent clean energy by 2045 in the state. Good luck with that!

Solar and wind power is certainly cleaner than coal. But neither is really a replacement for reliable baseload power plants. The wind doesn’t always blow and sometimes there are cloudy days. What’s more, peak power usage hours happen exactly at the point when the sun drops lower in the sky and solar panels begin powering down. That problem only gets worse as more baseload power plants get shuttered.

Also adding to the supply problem is the inadequacy of the power transmission infrastructure in the west. The desert southwest has seen explosive growth over the past 20 years. But the transmission grid has not. Proposals have been made to build out new transmission lines on public lands in the west. But that is slow going. Once again, the environmental lobby gets in the way. Projects get mired down in regulation and bureaucracy, and end up taking decades to complete.

So when a record heat wave comes along – as we have seen in the last few weeks – bringing with it record demand on the system; we suddenly see just how far behind such policies have put us. And we all become victim to them.

Demand
But that isn’t all. There are also new developments that have increased the demand side of the equation. Of course the demand spike involved in a record heat wave is expected. But there is more to it than that.

Electric Vehicles (EVs) have boomed in popularity. They are everywhere nowadays, made more affordable by a combination of high gas prices and generous government subsidies available on their purchase. The policy of devoting public funding to help people purchase a new EV, where it never made financial sense to them before, is once again a product of the environmental lobby. And California is leading the way on this one, too. The state has recently passed a state law to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

But leading the way is only good if you are leading to a better place. In this case, California’s leadership is once again taking us over a cliff. Apparently no one thought about the fact that all those EVs roll into the garage and connect to a charging station at around 5:30 pm each night – just in time for the peak demand period. The usage spike that causes has significantly worsened the problem over the past couple of weeks. And that can only get worse as we get closer to 2035.

The one with the most money wins
All of this begins to explain why the western U.S. has been running short on power. But how does that affect us locally? Why is OPD5 involved? After all the district has responsibly entered into a firm energy contract for ample power resources to fill the district’s needs. Morgan Stanley power brokerage has contracted to supply that resource each hour to Mead Substation near Boulder City. From there, the district has contracted with NV Energy to transmit that resource across its power lines to the OPD5 entry point at Tortoise Substation in Moapa.

With those contracts firmly in place, why were OPD5 customers being threatened with rolling blackouts over the past two weeks? The answer to this again comes from our beloved neighbor state to the west.
The focus on renewable energy resources has caused the need for a new kind of regional mega-market for power. These entities are established to tightly coordinate power generation with transmission and make the entire grid more efficient.

One of the grand-daddies of all these regional energy markets is the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). That’s right, California! This entity oversees the operation of California’s bulk electric power system, transmission lines and electricity market across all of the state’s member utilities.

It is here where California’s energy problems become everyone’s energy problems. When California’s whackiest environmentalist policies cause it to run short on supply, as it is bound to do, CAISO goes shopping to fill its peak demand.

Since reliable power generation in California is insufficient during peak hours, CAISO just seeks for resources elsewhere. And with a huge population of ratepayers behind it, the sky is the limit in terms of price. For-profit entities across the western states, with shareholders to please, simply can’t resist that.

Whatever it costs, CAISO swoops in and scoops up distant power resources wherever they can be found. Then they schedule those resources to be delivered on already over-burdened transmission lines – just name the price.

Suddenly that firm little packet of energy contracted by OPD5 is not so firm anymore. In our case, the power is there for us, but there isn’t sufficient transmission capacity to get it to Tortoise. In essence, we are outbid on it.

When elephants like CAISO and NV Energy are out dancing together in a heat wave, it is never good for the little ants like OPD5 who are just scurrying around beneath them trying to pick up crumbs.

And that is exactly what happened over the past couple of weeks. That is how OPD5 ratepayers will end up paying the bill for California’s crazy, unsustainable energy policies. And we will have to do that without even being able to cast a vote in the matter.

The takeaways?
Fortunately, even though we were brought to the brink of unpleasant rolling blackouts, we never went over the edge. At least not this time.

But what about next time. What will finally bring things to the tipping point? A few more fossil fuel-burning power plants replaced by solar fields? A couple more hydro-electric dams in the northwest being replaced by fish ladders and wind farms? Another half-million EVs on the road needing regular charging from the grid? What will it take?
And more importantly, what can we do about it?

Firstly, learning to effectively conserve during peak summer hours is going to be essential. Now might be a good time for everyone to go out and get backup generators.

Secondly, it should be clear that whatever California is doing, other western states should do the opposite. Under no circumstances should we be led down that self-destructive road. We will always come out on the short end. And for heave’s sake, Nevada and its neighbors should NEVER be persuaded to formally join forces with CAISO. That would clearly spell disaster.

After all, CAISO’s primary focus is on meeting the needs of California first. Everyone else gets the crumbs on the floor. Unchecked this entity would make vassals of every other western state. We would be reduced to supplying power generation to California while forced to sit in the dark ourselves.

Thirdly, it is time to push back hard against the environmental lobby. The tenebrous threats of the last few weeks are only the beginning. We are headed toward an energy system of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ that are only seen in struggling third world countries. These ill-conceived and foolhardy energy policies, left unchecked, will lead to disaster.

The sacrifices that will be required to support California in its unsustainable policies will continue and become steadily more painful. If Nevada, and other western states, continue to be led down these paths, we will be back to living in desert caves again. Such a second dark age will be our final reward for buying into this enviro-whacko agenda.