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California blackouts: Dude, where’s my Resource Adequacy?

The three main California energy agencies said it loud & clear in a letter to the Governor and the Legislature dated August 19: “…our organizations want to be clear about one factor that did not cause the rotating outage: California’s commitment to clean energy. Renewable energy did not cause the rotating outages.” That’s right, California’s … Read more

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Building a clean, affordable, resilient, equitable, and safe energy system to meet this moment

Rooftop PV installation on the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe administration building

by Janina Turner and Stacey Meinzen As we reel from the COVID-19 pandemic and think about the longer-term consequences, many of us are likely wondering how things will be in the fall. Many of us remember the Public Safety Power Shut-offs of 2019 that meant no electricity for refrigeration, heat, the internet, and in some … Read more

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Part of California’s power outage solution is sitting in half a million driveways

Last week, when PG&E shut off power to almost one million customers, many of us were left without heat, refrigeration, internet, light, and other essential functions for days. While some people fired up gas and diesel generators to bridge the power gap, these fossil fuel generators are no treat for neighbors with asthma and other … Read more

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Opinion: Microgrids could prevent need for planned power outages

Community microgrids are safe, reliable, clean, smart, and distributed.

Our aging and unstable electrical system must be replaced now, not decades from now This piece was originally published in the Mercury News opinion section on October 25, 2019. (Subscription required.) The dramatic increase in the size and severity of California’s wildfires in recent years is just one example of the devastating effects of climate … Read more