Posts

Opinion: No Choice But For Big Cuts Along The Colorado River Basin

/in , , /by /Denver Postby Ved Nandy
The mighty Colorado River is endangered. Persistent massive drought, exacerbated by climate change, overuse, and ever-rising demand, has taken a heavy toll.
Water levels have dwindled and remain at a historic low in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the largest human-made reservoirs in the United States – so low in Lake Mead a year ago that it came close to hitting dead pool status, which occurs when water levels are too low to generate electricity.
Full Story

Record Snowfall in Northern California May Help the State’s Electric Grid in 2022

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

The deluge of snow in recent days along the Sierra Nevada mountain range has been a record-breaker. And that’s not only good news for ski resorts but it may lead to a healthy boost in hydroelectricity production in California this coming summer, which would help the state’s often-strained electric grid.

Full Story

Opinion: How Budget ‘Trailer Bills’ Get Misused

/in , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

To understand a sharp-elbows squabble that’s developing behind the scenes in the state Capitol, one must first understand “pumped-storage hydro,” a way for electrical energy to be stored.

In its simplest form, water stored in a reservoir is released to generate power as it flows into a second reservoir at a lower elevation. Later, when the electrical grid’s need for power diminishes, the water is pumped back into the upper reservoir so the cycle can be repeated when demand increases.

It’s not a new technology; in fact it’s been around for more than a century although never more than a marginal factor in global power generation.

Full Story

Drought Conditions Could Impact Power Generation in the West

/in , , /by /PV Magazineby David Wagman

Ongoing drought and low snowpack mean that hydro production at two big dams could be impacted, affecting the West’s power supply in 2021.

Full Story

Tesla to Help Power Santa Barbara’s Cater Water Treatment Plant

/in , , /by /Santa Barbara Independentby Nick Welsh

At a time when every other car on the South Coast seems to be a Tesla, it’s fitting that the City of Santa Barbara will soon be relying on a small mountain of Tesla storage batteries to help move water in and out of its Cater Water Treatment Plant high atop San Roque Road to customers as far away as Montecito. With precious little fanfare, Santa Barbara’s City Council authorized a chain of events that will eventually result in the installation of 16 Tesla battery packs — valued at $3 million — at the facility.

All those battery packs combined will create a stylishly designed assembly of white metal boxes bearing Tesla’s distinctive corporate monogram that together will be about 60 feet wide, seven feet high, and five feet deep. On a good day, these batteries will be capable of cranking out 700 kilowatts of electricity, which is roughly 70 percent of the total load needed to move the 37 million gallons of treated H2O that go in and out of Cater each day.

Full Story