Summer has been no sweat for California's increasingly green energy grid, but the hottest days may still lie ahead
Amid humanity's hottest-ever summer months, California, home of the hottest place on Earth, has enjoyed a relatively cool and stress-free energy supply.
SAN DIEGO — Amid humanity's hottest-ever summer months, California, home of the hottest place on Earth, has enjoyed a relatively cool and stress-free energy supply.
A test of the grid's resolve may be in store this week, as the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) braces for triple-digit temperatures in the state's inland valleys and deserts.
Experts say California's increasing reliance on renewable energy, and its rapidly growing ability to store nature's bounty on lithium-ion batteries, has better prepared it to face a warming planet while also maintaining a device-crazed, climate-controlled lifestyle.
"Solar is making heroic appearances during the day this summer," Jan Kleissl, professor of renewable energy and energy flows at the University of California, San Diego, said by email.
In May, the grid operator recorded a historic high mark for solar energy production — more than 15,000 megawatts.
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