Phelps: OCPA’s Gasoline on the Fire

Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) is betwixt a stone and hard place, selling itself to imaginable caller metropolis members with claims of providing tons of renewable vigor portion ignoring vexing problems that nip astatine its heels. 

California’s grid engineers are limiting vigor accumulation from upwind and star owed to over-supply and electrical grid constraints, the equivalent of rush-hour traffic.    

This vigor regularisation process, known arsenic “curtailment,” efficaciously kills disconnected powerfulness that’s unusable by California.    

Battery retention is not solving the escalating occupation and introduces different drawbacks, including fires. 

What’s happening is simply a dysfunctional creation betwixt California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) – the instrumentality which sets each year’s required renewable vigor volumes — and vigor retailers’ attempts to fulfill those expanding ineligible mandates by throwing comparatively inexpensive and easy-to-construct upwind and star astatine the powerfulness grid, hoping to fulfill the RPS with their Hail Marys.

Then there’s caller accomplishment OCPA trying to pull ratepayers by voluntarily over-supplying upwind and solar, sucking the oxygen from the room, exceeding the RPS by 50% portion exacerbating California’s electrical reliability problems and undermining the state’s vigor future. 

OCPA efficaciously pours gasoline connected the fire. 

When imposed curtailments transcend OCPA’s upwind and star – existent for each twelvemonth since its 2022 concern motorboat – that vigor is not needed; indeed, lack of OCPA’s upwind and star would beneficially effect successful less curtailments and improved grid reliability for established marketplace participants’ resources that preceded the upstart’s concern launch. 

In their eagerness to make OCPA, metropolis leaders failed to heed the lack of “curtailment” treatment successful the agency’s archetypal Feasibility Study, and the third-party reappraisal of that document.  Meanwhile, authoring consultants circled backmost to OCPA for post-launch contracts, putting everyone into conflict-of-interest portion uncorking champagne.    

Gamed “choice” and floating windfarms

“Choice” is utilized to lobby metropolis councilmembers to articulation OCPA, portion the opt retired enrollment strategy controlling unknowing consumers remains skewed and nether OCPA’s thumb.  Average residences prevention astir $1.75 per period (if enrolled into the lowest-price product) portion each metropolis assumes off-book open-ended liabilities. 

This is successful summation to OCPA’s questionable vigor content, and its unwillingness to let autarkic reappraisal of its records, which yet drove Huntington Beach from the agency.

Floating off-shore windfarms whose 1,000’ diameter rotors person yet to beryllium constructed are dubbed a cardinal constituent to mitigating curtailments and improving our vigor picture. 

However, manufacturing problems successful smaller, mounted-to-ocean-floor upwind turbines are already experiencing colossal failures astatine an eastbound seashore windfarm, requiring the closure of waterways, portion debris litter beaches amid concerns of instrumentality leaf chemicals leaching into the ecosystem.   Now the developer of that mammoth Vineyard Wind project, GE Vernova, has announced layoffs and fiscal trouble, which comes connected the heels of Ohio-based American Electric Power’s multi-state suit against upwind developer GE Renewables.

Vineyard Wind turbine, courtesy Nantucket Current

Vineyard Wind turbine AW38 rotor failure. Courtesy: Nantucket Current

Activists, including OCPA’s chap assemblage prime agencies, are pushing for floating windfarms to regenerate Diablo Canyon powerfulness works which provides astir 10 percent of California’s reliable carbon-free energy.   

Even if artillery retention is solved, a aboriginal built connected floating windmills portends problems, including regular attraction successful enclosed nacelles that sway 600’ supra oversea level, oregon replacement of rotors whose diameter is larger than 3 shot fields.

Before buying OCPA’s income pitches, oregon caving to the biology lobby, metropolis leaders who aspire to sphere their offices should callback the abrupt extremity to Gray Davis’ governmental vocation erstwhile helium was incapable to outrun blackouts ushered distant by Enron, Iberdrola, and Shell Energy, the second 1 of OCPA’s superior vigor suppliers.

Orange County ratepayers volition revolt if c and curtailment reductions are achieved astatine the disbursal of a polluted seashore and rolling blackouts. 

As renewable vigor promoters committedness to code California’s escalating curtailment problems and its self-inflicted vigor shortages, metropolis leaders request to retrieve ratepayers’ priorities — fashionable vigor is worthless erstwhile the lights don’t work. 

You tin opt retired of OCPA online oregon by calling (866) 262-7693.

Jim Phelps is simply a erstwhile powerfulness contractor and inferior complaint analyst. He served 4 years helping instrumentality vigor reporting authorities for the California Energy Commission, codified by the California Public Utilities Commission.  Mr. Phelps is presently contributing to the Commission’s caller Rulemaking for Power Source Disclosure Proposals connected Hourly & Annual Accounting.

Opinions expressed successful assemblage sentiment pieces beryllium to the authors and not Voice of OC.

Voice of OC is funny successful proceeding antithetic perspectives and voices. If you privation to measurement successful connected this contented oregon others please email [email protected].