California shut off power grids this week, but not because of clean energy
As of 2020, all new homes in California are required to have rooftop solar panels, which should be a boon to the sapped energy grid. (Pexels/)Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a nonprofit climate change news service. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy. This story was published in partnership with Nexus Media.Record heat out West last weekend spurred Californians to blast their air conditioners, stretching the power grid so thin that the state started rationing electricity. For the first time since the 2001 electricity crisis, it imposed rolling blackouts, shutting down power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses up and down the state.The Wall Street Journal editorial board, among others, was quick to blame renewables for the blackouts. Because wind and solar plants only turn out power when the sun shines and the breeze blows, they wrote, they leave the state vulnerable to shortages. Even the president took time...