Guest Post by Eric Peters
Americans got a glimpse of the Green Future last week – and it was pretty dark.
Deliberate power outages have left millions of people in California with no lights – and no way to recharge their Teslas, either.
And it’s not because there isn’t enough power.
Rather, the state’s utility, Pacific Gas & Electric cut the power – ostensibly to prevent wildfires that might be started by downed (and hot) power lines.
But the real reason for the artificial blackout is PG&E’s massive – and government-mandated – malinvestment in “green” technologies such as wind farms and solar, which has diverted billions away from critically needed infrastructure investment, such as burying power lines so that Santa Ana winds don’t result in downed lines . . . and fires.
California’s very green governor, Gavin Newsome, even admitted this – elliptically. He told reporters last week that the blackouts are the result of “greed and neglect.”
The “greed” part coming from green crony capitalists who’ve leveraged saving the earth into lining their pockets.
CA’s legislature passed a bill last year (SB 100) that requires half of the state’s energy generation to be produced via “green” technologies – i.e., wind and solar – by 2026. This created an artificial – because mandated – market for cost-no-object “green” technologies – in much the same way that California created a “market” for cost-no-object electric cars by requiring large numbers of them to be sold in the state each year, even if they have to be given away at a net loss per car.
PG&E agreed to extremely “green” deals with solar and wind power providers like Topaz Solar Farms in San Luis Obispo County. Topaz , it turns out, is a subsidiary of Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway investment group.
These deals are reportedly worth $40 billion, according to bankruptcy paperwork filed by PG&E in January.
That’s right. PG&E has run out of money as well as power. Or at least, the ability to safely deliver power . . . without fire.
In part because it bought high – and sold low.
When PG&E made its deal with Topaz, the utility agreed to pay a fixed price for the solar power generated by Topaz that is five times higher than current market price, according to an article in the Sacramento Bee.
The $40 billion spent so far to go 34 percent “green” (16 percent shy of the 2026 mandated minimum) is on top of an estimated $30 billion in liability for damages caused by the so-called Camp Fire in Butte County last year – the deadliest fire in the state’s history. It burned more than 240 square miles and reduced 18,804 structures to ash.
At least 84 people died.
The fire was apparently started by a downed power line that lit brush on fire.
PG&E turned the power off last week to avoid a repeat and even more liability.
The Santa Ana winds have picked up – and it is exceedingly dry in Cali. It wouldn’t take much bad luck for another branch to fall on another power line and start another fire – perhaps one even worse than the Camp Fire.
And under California law, PG&E would be on the hook for the damages.
But the cost to beat back the brush to avoid the damages is estimated to be at least $150 billion – money PG&E clearly hasn’t got
Where will this green come from?
Californians already pay twice the national average for electricity. They may soon be paying even more for it.
And not just Californians.
Mandated conversion to “green” sources of energy generation isn’t limited to Cali. Twenty nine other states have also mandated what are styled Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).
As in California, utilities in these states are required to generate a certain percentage of their grid power using “renewable” sources – which effectively means solar and wind since nuclear is off the table due to regulatory impasses that have made it almost impossible to obtain approval for new plants – let alone funding.
But solar and wind are also costly – and not just in terms of money.
They are erratic sources of power – being dependent on the vagaries of weather. Also – in California, at least – they provide no insurance policy against grid power going offline because the home solar systems now required by law in CA feed power to the grid when the sun is up – with the idea being that power will be fed back to people’s homes from the grid when the sun goes down.
But when the grid goes down, everyone’s in the dark.
This darkness will spread as “green” mania – and mandates – spreads.
Better top off your Tesla.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
Top off your Tesla. A cool line.
He was building towards it in a ‘wait for it’ sort of way and then delivered the punch line with economy of words. I’d say it was his most succinct opinion piece on the insanity of electric cars. Instead of spelling it out for you, he let’s you do the math.
California is still working out the problems created by Pete Wilson and the Bush 2 administration. Their strategy to bilk Californians out of $billions via rolling blackouts in a deregulated electricity scheme was a marvel of criminal duplicity. Good thing they got us involved in an endless war in the ME. The Bushistas are the gift that keeps on giving, like AIDS.
It’s been more than a decade since then. Mandating 60% “green” energy is like mandating that your kid grow to 7’6” and join the NBA.
I thought the rolling blackouts were made from the greedy ENRON traders manipulating the power services and shutting down sections on purpose…. (or was that what you meant)
Did he say greed? Hmm, seems like greed causes lots of problems on a large scale.
Lust for power is another producer of massive problems.
Hell, might as well add Pride, Envy, and Wrath while you’re gettin’ all biblical here.
I was thinking of politicians and their unfettered lust for power being the makers of lots and lots of problem.
DONT WORRY ABOUT THE LIGHTS GOING OUT…WORRY ABOUT GETTING COOKED ALIVE.
Come on…click on the Camp Fire link…funny detail in the picture all those houses burned down to the foundation…yet the trees surrounding the houses seem fine…ITS DEW WEAPONS being used on a rural CONSERVATIVE area of the Left Coast!
Below is from 2017…The Luciferians Powers That Be (TLPTB) were so successful in in 2017, the 2018 Camp Fires were a no brainer encore!
They thought” Hmmm…stupid American sheeple people, we can test these weapons while killing useless Conservative eaters, while clearing the countryside for Agenda 21 & 30 and blame it on Wild Fires, inspite of the undeniable physical and eye witness evidence.
Wake up…they are cooking people alive in their homes and cars.
CALIFORNIA FIRES – DEW –DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS
http://christianobserver.net/california-fires-dew-directed-energy-weapons/
Yes, this is the EXACTITUDE OF DESTRUCTION offered by AI (artificial intelligence) – run directed energy weapons attacks dependent upon our ionized, electrified atmosphere: structures gone, trees intact. For the military mind, it’s impressive, indeed. All the nano-aluminum particles in the buildings and soil after years of drought, years of chemical trails overhead, not to mention the plasma “cloud cover” laid 3 days in advance of this debacle . . . This is the face of modern tactical warfare in service to disaster capitalism and globalist fat cats. Were kings better than CEOs and interlocking corporate boards? At least the majority of kings loved their country and took pride in their people.
Drone footage of fire damage in Santa Rosa | Los Angeles Times | Buildings and Cars Destroyed – Trees and Plastic Items Untouched
Watch the brief vid in the link
Buildings and cars destroyed – trees and plastic items untouched.
DEW – Directed Energy Weapons – Even the head of Cal Fire for the state said on CNN he had no idea what started the over 60 strikes that came out of nowhere in the middle of the night without warning. Sudden, unexplainable winds kicked up to 60-70 mph, blue flashes and sparks were seen above by many, including me. Cars were torched, yet trees untouched. Homes were reduced to unrecognizable rubble.
This video does a much better job. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGEYU9pKDFk&list=FLmO5Dxm9ReivfQgnNddR3lg&index=11&t=0s
NickelthroweR,
Remember this?
That sounds just like the vehicles that were completely fried in downtown Manhattan on 911 exactly like that
PG&E prioritized executive compensation over right of way maintenance. It wasn’t a downed line, it was the fact that the trees grew up to where they hit the lines during winds.
Their executives should do prison time.
warren buffet,the king of crony capitalism–
figures that he has his finger in a govt $ pie–
what’s new?
Socialist agendas always run out of money.
Pg&e cant maintain the lines, go green, upgrade the lines, and get sued all at the same time.
Pick one. Thats what they can afford.
can’t they piece it out between the greens & the trial lawyers?
after all,those are 2 of the main demo interest groups–
Once upon a time, long ago, electricity production was relegated to the geniuses that invented it and to the corporations that had the funds to develop it into a service. The power station and electrical grid are historical evidence of this development.
Today, however, almost any individual can generate his/her own electricity and go ‘off grid’. When I say ‘any individual’, I’m referring to the fact that anyone can purchase a solar panel or windmill, batteries and inverter. Having the land or building to accommodate these devices is out of reach for most folks though.
People already living out in the bush have the land and building so they have little excuse for not being self sufficient. Any yammering on their part should be ignored as they’ve decided to play the part of a victim.
It should be the goal of everyone to become self sufficient in energy. Doing so by drilling for oil, mining coal, discovering a gas pocket or constructing a nuclear reactor isn’t reasonable for most folks. Generating electricity with off the shelf products is.
The future is electric vehicles and more and more energy independence. Any Luddite that wants to keep ICE vehicles around indefinitely is peeing up a rope.
oh good grief, here is another kool aid drinker.
Tell me something Greta of TBP, what is your real world model for all this thinking?
and how will you recycle a world full of dead batteries and worn out solar panels, after about a decade, (as long as nothing even close to reality affects these standard rates of depreciation, like, say, a fire, or real good hail storm, or any other act of nature not covered by your homeowners policy).
you have been fooled, by propaganda, spouted out of the mouths of children.
Solar and wind consume more energy in their manufacture than they will ever produce. They are literally a waste of resources.
I haven’t seen the figures yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the battery packs are equally catabolic.