California May Go Dark This Summer, and Most Aren’t Ready
People there have essentially 3 choices. They can dark it out – which means no power for whatever time the blackout will take. They can buy super expensive batteries and if they can’t afford those, they can install a diesel generator. Wait – this is California so diesel gensets might be a problem. They might be banned altogether so this option does not exist anymore and if you can’t afford a battery you are toast. If this happens to larger communities, the local mayor will either quickly become an ardent pro-diesel genset advocate or be thrashed at the next election. If that happens to enough communities, this might create a groundswell or people might finally leave the Sunshine state. No fun for those concerned …
A plan by California’s biggest utility to cut power on high-wind days during the onrushing wildfire season could plunge millions of residents into darkness. And most people aren’t ready.
