Solar power glut boosts California electric bills. Other states reap the benefits
LA TimesCalifornia is making so much solar energy that large commercial operators are increasingly forced to stop production, raising questions about the state’s costly plan to shift entirely to carbon-free sources of electricity. The waste would have been even larger if California had not paid utilities in other states to take the excess solar energy, documents from the state’s grid operator show. Homes with rooftop solar have increased the curtailments at the industrial solar farms by decreasing electric demand, said Guillermo Bautista-Alderete, an official with the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid. “Successfully increasing storage and solar together will reduce our reliance on natural gas power plants, helping to meet California’s clean energy goals,” said Shannon Eddy, executive director of the Large-Scale Solar Assn., a trade group. The traders also include those working for utilities in other states, including Arizona Public Service, which operates a 24-hour trading floor in Phoenix looking for California’s cheap or negatively priced solar power.
History of this topic
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