I saw an interesting opinion piece yesterday entitled "Mandating Grid Dependency" by someone named Jim Cardoza. It concerns California's increasing push to make everything electric: Cars, heating, cooking, whatever.
This being California, the push toward all-electric everything is not merely being encouraged, but increasingly mandated. Any legacy energy – gasoline production and sales, natural gas appliances sales and repair, propane water heaters or heat sources – are being blatantly phased out and/or heavily regulated to the point of extinction.
This is, of course, at a time when electrical costs for California citizens has increased 47 percent since 2019. As Cardoza put it, "There seems to be something incoherent about making electricity exceptionally expensive while simultaneously requiring citizens to use more of it."
But California politicians seem to be blind to the biggest elephant in the room: In a state 100 percent dependent on electricity, what happens during a power outage? Cardoza puts it this way: "Yet the financial cost may not be the greatest danger created by electrifying virtually everything. There is another cost that is largely ignored: concentrating life’s necessities in a single system creates a single point of failure."
This push to electrify everything violates the single most important rule for preparedness: Three is two, two is one, one is none. Redundancy is crucial. To forcibly mandate the elimination of redundancy is dangerous to the point of insane.
"The issue, therefore, isn’t whether electric cars, heat pumps, solar panels, induction stoves, or electronic payments are good technologies," writes Cardoza. "The question is whether politicians should deliberately eliminate or discourage alternatives, making citizens dependent upon one centrally regulated infrastructure for nearly everything."
What are your thoughts? Should electrical everything be mandated for the sake of a net-zero goal, or is this a fool's errand?
Here in Massachusetts they seem to be following CA for some stupid reason.
ReplyDeleteThey want electric cars (new homes being built have to have the charging port in the garage).
Solar panels are along highways (not sure of the nightmare that will bring for disposal when the time comes).
They don't want wood stoves, propane, or oil to heat a home, but just electric which has always been the most expensive to heat around here. Solar won't heat a home around here. And yes, what if there are power outages in the winter due to snow/ice storms which I've seen here (Blizzard of '78 we were out of power for days.).
From what I understand our grid system is old and much of our power comes from Canada. If we overload our grid system there could be problems.
I write this as we batten down the hatches getting ready for a Nor-Easter (thankfully rain not snow) this weekend. They are threating possible power outages and using generators (gas/propane).
Debbie in MA
"Technology will save us", is the usual thought pattern I'm used to hearing. Complete fallacy. Becoming dependent upon a single source of all energy needs is akin to stabbing yourself in the foot. You have eliminated all other options after a few years due to the forgetfulness gene taking hold. You simply forget how to use anything else. IE: how to adapt. Always have a Plan B for everything, transportation, energy, shelter, food. When the electric goes out, (and it always has that opportunity, usually when Mr. Murphy show his unwanted head), all I can say is, "Welcome to 1840".
ReplyDeleteAs a native Californian, I can tell everyone from 75 yrs of personal experience – with 46 years in SoCal/LA –going all electrical is more than a fool's errand, it is a disastrous and deadly fool's errand (I won't even get into the unconstitutional aspects of impinging illegally and criminally on so many of our United States Constitution and our state's constitution rights and protections in, as we call it, "Commiefornia".).
ReplyDeleteWith a CA population of over 40 million and a over 120 year old dilapidated, badly maintained, decaying grid system, our mismanaged and malfeasant electric utility providers: PG&E in NoCal, SoCal Edison in SoCal, and San Diego Gas & Electric in San Diego County are RIGHT NOW incapable of providing 100% consistent and safe electrical power to their customers statewide at any given time of day at any time of the year. Simply look at the increasing number of brownouts and blackouts CA has been experiencing over the last decade (FYI – in addition, SoCal Edison uses euphemistically-named "Public Safety Power Shut-offs" [PSPS] (actually controlled, intended multi-day blackouts) to protect itself from electrical grid wildfire-started fires in LA County's suburban, rural and unincorporated areas (frequently unsuccessful in preventing those fires; in some cases has caused more fires) liabilities. Also, simply look at the number of increasingly devastating and loss of human life in urban, suburban, and rural area fires (i.e., the recent palisades [LA], Paradise fire [NoCal] Eaton/Altadena [LA County] , Angeles Nat'l Forest wildfires, et al) that were either caused by, or majorly contributed to, the loss of 100s of people's lives, 1000s of homes, billions of dollars in property and asset losses that cannot be recovered because local, county, and state "politicians" and actual government is FUNDED by millions of dollars of political "contributions" to people and entities in ALL political parties; insurance companies (including the CalFire insurance option [which is severely underfunded] provided by the state) cannot afford to pay out 100% (if any are ever paid out at all) on all claims; the electrical utilities are never held accountable and never will be; and on and on it goes.
All the above goes to make clear that: the electric utilities cannot [or will not] safely, consistently, and competently provide enough affordable electricity to any of their customers NOW, much less to an all-electric-use-based state – NOT NOW, not in the near future, and probably never if the supply, the grid system, and the state governments continue as they are now. And, just so everybody knows, CA utilities ALREADY import over 37% of the electricity we currently use from other nearby states, and much of that supply is from very expensive, inefficient, unsustainable, and environmentally dangerous "green new deal" alternative power such as solar, wind, and BESS [unsafe lithium-ion battery energy generation and storage systems] – which has done nothing to solve CA's growing energy requirements.
For everyone's amusement... during last year's summer heatwaves, brownouts & blackouts, the state, counties, and utilities – especially in SoCal – put out alerts to NOT charge your vehicles at peak use hours (generally considered to be between Noon and 8:30 pm) in addition to NOT using AC, doing laundry, using unnecessary appliances, etc.
A government mandated all-electric state? A disastrous and deadly SUBTARDed fool's errand. Not to mention the illegality of a mandate – ANY mandate.
Sorry to write so much, but there are many groups and individuals in CA who take yet another threat from the state such as this one very seriously; we are actively, aggressively fighting these government subtards' efforts to further destroy California – this is a non-partisan statement... and there are subtards in all political CA party brands that are promoting this disastrous mandate because there is a LOT of money involved, and they all want their share of it. All opinions herein are my own.
No Cal resident. Born here 54 years ago. You hit the nail on the head. All of it. Remember the anguish when in hot summers they have to fire up the ship motors/generators to keep the whole state from blacking out?
DeleteThat is just electricity. Gasoline, healthcare, taxes, road repairs, homeless, drugs, crime, extreme minimum wage, etc. No one afford to live here. BTW solar panel salesmen show up weekly because our house faces South.
Steve Hilton is getting my vote!
Thank you!
DeleteSteve Hilton is getting my vote, too!
If I still lived in the City of Los Angeles, Spencer Pratt would have gotten my vote, too.
Single point failure reminds me of the rhyme...
ReplyDeleteFor want of a shoe, the horse was lost; For want of a horse, the rider was lost; For want of a rider, the battle was lost; For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost; And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
If the government can screw something up they will. Leave us alone!!
ReplyDeleteAlso look at what happened in Texas a couple years ago when a modest storm came through and knocked out the solar and wind generators in the winter. Didn't look pretty even after traditional generators where brought in to get them back to having some semblance of normalcy.
ReplyDeleteI do remember that winter in Texas, Iraude!
DeleteAnother example of utility and government malfeasance, relying on the aforesaid unreliable use of inefficient, unsustainable, and environmentally dangerous "green new deal" alternative power scams such as wind, solar, and BESS.
The Story – My Niece lived in Austin at that time.
My niece and her partner lived in a section of Austin whose grid section was [and still is] supplied/powered by a high percentage of "alternative"-sourced electrical power providers. They were totally without power and in danger of hypothermia, dehydration, and freezing. Fortunately, friends of my niece living in a different part of Austin still had full power (from a different part of the city's grid that was supplied by traditional power-generating resources) and they told her to get over to their house as quickly as possible, if at all possible.
My niece (born and raised in Idaho into my brother's family of outdoors-focused enthusiasts and a skier) said no problem. She and her partner grabbed all the warm clothes, bedding & food they could stuff in their car and still have room for 2 dogs, and set out at an excruciatingly slow speed to drive to their friend's house... she later said: it took about two hours to get there; the friends were only about a mile away.
Unfortunately, many other people were not so fortunate – many died, many suffered hypothermia and other physical injuries [not to mention the mental stress!], and severely damaged homes and vehicles.
And the utilities and the Texas government still haven't learned their lesson. More SUBTARDS!
Thus, more disasters to be expected – everyone should prepare as best they can, as soon as they can, to survive whatever comes next – whether it is a natural, unpreventable danger or a human subtard-caused danger – specific to where they live and what their needs are.
"tard"? Really? Come on.
DeleteTotal electrical is ludicrous, IF they wanted all electric then they would be building solid power plants NOT worthless solar and wind, they are NOT viable and never will be for commercial use. I built power plants all over and i know about what is viable and what is not. total electrical is a FARCE.
ReplyDeleteYes, that winter was hard on many, but not us. We heat with a wood burning stove in the winter, so we were not cold. The bed was warm because we have a down comforter. We had light because we have oil lanterns, candles, solar powered and battery powered camping lanterns and flashlights. We could cook, because we have a propane stove and propane ( The house was all electric when we moved, and had propane fitted for the cook stove and tankless water heater.) If the cook stove fails, we can cook on the wood burning stove. We could heat water on either stove for I remember washing dishes in the soft, golden glow of an oil lantern and thinking how beautiful it was. Do I use a dishwasher? You bet I do! But during that time, I didn't miss it.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Deep in the Heart of Texas! That's the way to go!
DeleteI escaped from LA Metropolitan area in 2006, buying acreage and building a home in the high desert mountain region not too far away from LA, but totally rural. I built-in the same redundancies you have...
A wood stove that I can cook on; propane powered cooktop, water heater, and furnace; my own well with a huge water storage tank; plenty of heavy blankets & quilts; candles and oil lamps, and more; and a [always] growing pantry filled with store bought, long-term shelf-stable foods and home preserved (canned, dried, and vacuum-sealed dry goods) food supply; a basic medical emergency kit; manual tools and devices that replicate the usual everyday electrical appliances & tools; and so much more.
So far, the longest power-outage, utility-caused event was 4.5 days and wasn't stressful to me or my family as I am more than prepared for that type of short-term event, even if it happens in the dead of winter. But, who knows in CA – or anywhere else for that matter – what could be in store for us.
As I wrote in my reply to Iraude above... we should all try to prepare for dangerous events as best we can as soon as we can, even if it is only a little bit at a time. It took us quite a bit of time to gather everything we felt we needed (and we still have a list) to remain safe and survive.
It's also easier to control the populace if all their energy needs come from a single source. This is their true objective.
ReplyDelete2 years ago our washer died. We ordered a new Speed Queen set and wanted a gas dryer. They had to order it and it took 3 weeks for it to arrive. No one wanted them it appears!
ReplyDeleteAs for backups, one thing some people should consider if they have a well, especially a deep well where you cannot easily use a hand pump, is to have a small solar setup or small wind turbine to be able to just power their well and any fridges/freezers in a long term power outage. I get some people are adamantly opposed to using solar, but if you are without power for a week or more and if fuel isn't available, you won't be able to run a generator long term to power a well. A small setup is easy to do on your own and fairly reasonably priced. Good to have just for piece of mind, as in many areas surface water sources are not available or safe to access.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a post-disruption tv show (an attack took out all electrical technology?) where much of North America fell under militant feudal rule... where there even was a rule of law.
ReplyDeleteThose who rebelled were threatened with exile to California. Ubiquitous reactions of dread, with the truth left to the viewer's imagination