I wonder if the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Prince Harry will be switching their A/C up to 25 deg and not charging their cars to take them to their private jets or yachts, or does this just apply to the peons?

Doesn't really apply to anyone seeing as they have no way to enforce it...

Yeah very true. I was more meaning that the likes of Harry and Leo will expect others to do this kind of thing voluntarily, whilst doing no such thing themselves. Because they are mega rich, so why should they suffer small amounts of discomfort or inconvenience?

The police could enforce it using the IR cameras in their helicopters.

People with money would install solar and batteries. Even if not for saving energy, but for the luxury of ignoring power outages and generator emissions regulations.

Solar and Batteries ? Has no-one worked out your PV works best when your aircon is needed most.

The temperature lags behind the sunshine. That's why the "peak" is 4pm to 9pm. All the details are charted at https://www.caiso.com/ if you're interested.

(El Reg seems to have joined the MAGA crowd in the US in turning this into some kind of critique of electric vehicles, environmentalism and so on.)

We're currently experiencing a heat wave where temperatures that would normally peak in the 80s are going well over 100F. People respond to this by turning on the air conditioning. A typical domestic unit consumes about 6Kw, or what you'd expect to use when charging a car in your garage (maybe more, maybe less). Added up over a large area this represents a large chunk of power. So the smart thing to do is charge your vehicle at night.

Its all common sense, really. All infrastructure has design limits so you learn to work within those limits rather than maxing everything out, hoping it holds together and then flailing around angrily when it breaks.

Incidentally, during one of these alerts (its the first we've had this year to my knowledge) our utility will pay me $2 per Kwh to adjust my A/C thermostat to reduce overall power use. This is free money for me because I keep our cool set point at their setting (even assuming the A/C is on which is isn't for most of the time).

Please don't bring MAGA into the conversation, because then all rational debate goes out the window and everything becomes political and polarised.

Perhaps Trump, even though he got most things wrong, is actually right about some things. About Germany being dependant on Russian oil and gas? Tick. About the WHO being directed by the Chinese government? Jury still out on that one, and probably it's the American government too (behind Trump's back) because the NIH were funding research in Wuhan, so probably best we don't look there. Move along nothing to see.

About climate change being a fake story from the Chinese government? (or however he described it?) Probably not. But perhaps it's a bit dumb to go all electrical whilst simultaneously shutting down the nuclear power plants? Or do you think the solar and wind are enough? It's the "Sunshine State" after all, so you should have plenty of solar? Probably one of the best sites on the whole planet!? Why would a heat wave matter if you're getting 10 hours of sunshine every day? Surely that's enough to power all the electric cars and A/C you could possibly want?

If you can't make it work in California, then perhaps we should have a grown up conversation about how we transition to renewables in a realistic timescale, without causing mass blackouts in one of the richest states in the richest country in the world.

Also, is it possible that the modellers have got it wrong and we're not in the "emergency" that some seem to think, and we've got a few decades to transition? It does appear that the IPCC models don't match reality, and global warming has kind of paused for the last 20 years, instead of going up in the way Al Gore scared us all shitless with. Or do you think we should full on panic, "just in case"?

-> the richest country in the world.

The most in debt regime in the world.

Trump being right about a few things is no surprise. The amount of shit he babbles constantly is akin to a million monkeys with a million typewriters ... and about all it shows is similar to a stopped clock being right twice per day, but is otherwise pretty useless as a tool.

Very true. Which is why I was suggesting that a little climate scepticism doesn't make you a maga nutcase

Florida is the Sunshine State.

Cali is the Golden State.

Lots of us in Florida would let Cali take the 'Sunshine State' title if they'd take a few Florida Men, starting with the resident at a certain beach club on the Intercostal Waterway.

Oh yeah, good point. But they do get plenty of sunshine too (and let's be honest, less humidity).

Not that I'd want to live there, it seems like a real mess recently.

*whilst simultaneously shutting down the nuclear power plants? "

So that will be Japan firing them up, the UK putting in more funding into Sizewell C and both the UK and USA approving small modular reactors then?

Germany? Sweden?

Germany "Shut up Trump, we know better than you, Russian gas is great thanks!" *ahem*

Sweden "Renewables rock, let's shut down our perfectly good reactors with years left on them" proceeds to fire up the 'reserve' oil power station, burning a measly 140 000 l oil / hour all summer.

Yeah politicians are smart sometimes...

What the fuck do MAGA (Muppets Annoying Genuine Americans) have to do with intelligent people pointing and laughing at California's joke of an energy policy? Has anyone noticed the dams silting up yet? And now we're going to get another 5 years of Nuclear (in you FACE, Gavin!), but after that no more nukes (none even on the drawing board[0]). But we're working on Wind! (Never mind that ALL of the good places for wind generation are already full[1].) And we'll have better batteries RealSoonNow! Honest! Really, We're Working On It! Etc. Etc. Etc. ... During the meanwhile, let's build another hundred or so natural gas plants to keep us going ...

I'm ever so happy that I told PG&E and the PUC to fuck off ... The idiots running things couldn't organize a piss-up in a winery.

The heatwave California is heading into (today through next Tuesday or Wednesday) is absolutely nothing new. It is normal, it happens every year. In fact, there are typically six to ten of them every year. It is the fifth so far this year. (I'm in Sonoma, California.)

"our utility will pay me $2 per Kwh to adjust my A/C thermostat to reduce overall power use."

So the more you use, the more the utility will pay you? That sounds kind of stupid ... Surely they can't be paying you according to how much you DON'T use ... Consider that you didn't use 450 GWh this afternoon, and you won't again tomorrow.

[0] Not only are there no new nuclear plants on the drawing board, as of 1975 it is actually ILLEGAL for an energy company to start planning a new one here in California. No shit! The mind absolutely boggles ...

[1[ Except the Coast ... but the California Coastal Commission will never allow wind plants on or near the coast. So there goes 850 x 40 to 100 miles or so of prime wind ...

Given California's large difference between peak and off-peak tariffs, almost everyone will already have their EV charging after 9pm (starting whenever the off peak rates begin)

The biggest electrical use consumers could affect during that window prior to 9pm is their AC, but that's unfortunately something people will be very reluctant to part with during a heat wave.

Hopefully that funky new type of AC that allows moving electrical use to off peak hours while still providing cooling during peak hours can make it to market, but that's not going to do anyone any good during the current heat wave.

It's a pity that people mainly need to use AC when it's hottest and sunniest - otherwise solar would be great

My AC runs off the inverter. The inverter doesn't give a shit if the power comes from the PVs, the generator, or the battery.

However, for the most part we don't use the AC. The GSHP keeps the house at a nice, toasty 70F (21C) pretty much constantly. I expect the AC to kick in on Sunday, Monday & Tuesday, when it's supposed to be around 105F (40C).

Solar generation peaks in the middle of the day, cooling needs peak a few hours later - though if you aim your panels to the west you can shift that generation peak. But on an existing home you have limited choices as far as your roof's design, and possibly are also limited by trees.

CA could recommission the two nuke plants they decommissioned prematurely, but that would make too much sense for a typical politician.

California has just (today) given PG&E the money to keep Diablo Canyon's two plants going for another 5 years. Once again, the people of California are bailing PG&E out after their fucking boneheaded decisions came back and bit them in the ass.

...I'm just surprised that it came so soon.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/09/01/22000-colorado-households-lose-control-of-their-home-thermostats-during-heat-wave-as-power-company-locks-out-air-conditioning-use/

(Denver ABC7) – […] when thousands of Xcel customers in Colorado tried adjusting their thermostats Tuesday, they learned they had no control over the temperatures in their own homes.

[…] “I mean, it was 90 out, and it was right during the peak period,” Talarico said. “It was hot.” That’s when he saw a message on the thermostat stating the temperature was locked due to an “energy emergency.”

[…] Xcel confirmed to Contact Denver7 that 22,000 customers who had signed up for the Colorado AC Rewards program were locked out of their smart thermostats for hours on Tuesday. (read more)

Comrade Citizens, it is important that we support the needs of the energy collective. All good thinking citizens put the needs of the state ahead of their selfish desires.

Special offer, cheaper electricity but we get to limit your use when we run out = great sign me up.

We ran out of electricity and reduced your use = surprised pichachu face

This is where I point out we caught my roommates Nest in SoCal turning ON the air conditioning when no one was home because he left the themostat in some "eco" mode that let the power company control the thermostat. It overrode the default and program modes and turned it ON in the middle of the day when no one was home, running the bill up.

There is still a lot of snake oil getting pushed, and people being taken advantage of by the power companies, who I assure you, do not have your best interests at heart.

Here in Sonoma I have discovered that it is far more energy efficient to keep the place at a cool temperature constantly than it is to allow the place to warm up when I'm away, and then try to cool it back down when I return. Granted, I have very good insulation, but so should everyone else.

Instead of cooling the whole house a little, I find it is more energy efficient to heavily chill small cylindrical glass cooling pads, and consume the cold as required. Mexican cooling units are obviously better, being designed and rated for higher ambient temperatures.

"Xcel confirmed to Contact Denver7 that 22,000 customers who had signed up for the Colorado AC Rewards program were locked out of their smart thermostats for hours on Tuesday"

So presumably, the smart people went down to their local hardware store and purchased a cheap chinesium thermostat (~$20) to replace the obviously b0rken-by-design so-called "smart" one, right?

Comrade Citizens, it is important that we support the needs of the energy collective. All good thinking citizens put the needs of the state ahead of their selfish desires.

Well yes, that is exactly correct. It's called community.

I do hope the costs are working out for putting power back on the grid. Currently I pay 27 p per kWh but if I put any back on the grid from my solar panels I only get about 4 p. I'd be really annoyed if I charged a car at 27p and they took the charge (with losses) and gave me 4 p per kWh. AND I had to pay to charge it up again. Currently I have to output over 10kWh just to cover the standing charge per day!

When I installed my solar stuff, I decided I wanted nothing to do with the grid. PG&E doesn't even have wires on my property anymore ... and they never will again, the thieving bastards.

"with most of that coming from renewables, and the rest from hydroelectricity and nuclear power."

So is hydroelectricity not considered renewable any more? I did not get that memo!

Not with all the dams silting up it's not.

"The top three conservation actions are to set thermostats to 78 degrees [25˚C] or higher, avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles, and turn off unnecessary lights"

That's four things, dunce. Surprised the eds didn't Sic that one..

Also, maybe mention why the residential users are the only ones being called out on for this stuff, and mention that those running their own renwables don't need to unplug their fridge and sweat in the dark eating spoiled bologna sandwiches.

"That's four things"

The way I read it, I assumed they were including the EV as a large appliance. Because it is.

If you're thinking Hoover Dam style renewable - go have a look at the water table in the lake and tell me it's easily renewable. Vagrancies in weather patterns make it more of a hit/miss style since rain used to refill the storage pool (or lake behind the dam) requires a fair amount of luck with the weather providing rain in the correct location to refill it.

Pumped storage is an option, but I believe "hydroelectricity" in the context of the article doesn't consider pumped storage since that's a very low percentage option (not enough pumped-storage facilities available).

Err guys can you not like put up some solar panels and like get some of that sweet sunshine to make electricity ?

I know it seems like some mad idea to do this in the state where the sunshines for like 360 days a year.

I got mine, but I could use a few more. If only there wasn't a national tariff on cheap solar panels...

Yes, we can, and are. It has only been recently that it makes sense for the average homeowner, at least from a TCO perspective.

The cost of admission is very high ... but once installed, you can pull the meter and ignore the grid for the rest of your life.

I'm projecting my setup will have paid for itself in about ten years (guessing at PG&E rate increases). After that, it'll have another 20 years of life in it with one battery swap, and possibly another 15 or so after that with another battery swap.

My costs were lower than yours might be ... When I rebuilt this house, I made provisions for a solar plant on the roof, including wire. And I did the installation myself, minimizing labo(u)r costs.

In the UK its likely that a 4k domestic PV will pay for itself in less than 5 years with the price rise coming in Oct. And possibly down to 3 years by the next one - assuming brexit doesnt restrict the supply of the same too much!

Which is nice if you own a lovely big house with a large roof.

The rest of us? Ah.

I'm all in for electric cars mind you, they can be pretty awesome when you can find a charge point. But we are screwing this up in California. Or more accurately, we are being screwed by how this is being done in California.

PG&E, SocalEdison, and Newsome, the unholy trinity, are seeing to it that we are forced into a world of electric everything. At the same time the governor is allowing the utilities to block people from easily deploying their own solar, blocking the installation of gas service lines in whole buildings, blocking large scale solar projects on state and city buildings, and concentrating renewables into remote and consolidated locations that have no access to customers other than through the monopoly grid they operate. Their business model has been to drive up the rates by creating artificially constrained supply, and loading rate payers with endless fees, because every failed and overbudget project they saddle us with, drives up the value of the percentage cut they are allowed to add on top of those costs.

They have also made it common practice to kill hundreds, and cause billions of dollars of damage to the state by neglecting maintenance of the aging gas pipelines and electrical infrastructure until someone dies, or the are burns down. And when the industry was finally about to gets it's reckoning when PG&E was found liable for multiple wildfires, instead of letting PG&E go bankrupt and taking over the grid, Newsom gave them a fat bailout package in return for their generous support. Just like the high speed rail that he hated until the bag men showed up. Now we have a high speed fail rail that only serves the central valley.

Now we have a short sighted governor looking to green wash his legacy by forcing everyone onto a crippled and broken grid he could have fixed, but took a bribe to ignore. His plan is to eject from the state before the shit hits the fan, to play the same game at the nations level. My fellow americans, please do not vote for our resident glad handing nitwit. Or Nitwits, as we have been exporting a bunch of them. Garcetti and slick Tony were both terrible in LA, and keep failing upwards.

California has a bright electric future, but we needed to start the 10 year upgrade project years ago. PG&E's management and investors whole plan is to suck every dime out of the company and then run when the grid collapses, sticking the state and ratepayers with the damages. Socal Edison is running the same playbook, but 5 years behind. Neither is actually building the infrastructure needed to fully electrify the state, or maintaining the existing grid. Instead they are playing a game of chicken, forcing more grid use, blocking alternatives, and banking on another expensive bailout when they crash the state.

Don't give it to them. They've been handed enough. Leave access to the alternatives till the grid has a prayer of handling the load, and if they fold, let them take all their debt with them. Don't subsidize their risk taking with the taxpayers and ratepayers money. If their management negligently kills people, management and the shareholders should be on the hook, and if they can't pay, the state can take the grid in lieu of other payment.

"At the same time the governor is allowing the utilities to block people from easily deploying their own solar"

Not really. I had absolutely zero issues from the State or the PUC or PG&E when I installed mine. I even had quite a few tax incentives. Switching from the grid to my off-the-grid system consisted of having my insurance company inspect it, then literally throwing the switch, verifying that it was functional, and finally pulling PG&E's meter[0] and calling them to come get their shit off my property.

"Now we have a high speed fail rail that only serves the central valley."

We don't even have that. The first leg is partially under construction. Partly, I say, because the numpties in charge haven't even secured 52 miles of the right-of-way as of yet. Hell of a way to run a railroad, that.

Most of the rest of yours is hyperbole, and I'm not in the mood.

[0] Here in California, the homeowner is responsible for everything after the meter. After PG&E took all their stuff away, I decided to keep the transfer switch (I had to pay for it, might as well use it!) and added a way to truck in a second genset, just in case I ever need to take my kit off-line for a few days.