←back to thread

For rural Californians, unreliable power has become the norm

(www.hcn.org)
28 points dangle1 | 2 comments | 03 Nov 25 23:43 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
bix6 ◴[04 Nov 25 01:34 UTC] No.45806587[source]▶
Wow $3M a mile to bury lines is insane. It sounds like that’s the only solution though?
replies(3): >>45806976 #>>45807120 #>>45807316 #
1. lacker ◴[04 Nov 25 04:06 UTC] No.45807316[source]▶
Batteries are also a pretty good solution. It's possible that eventually there is enough battery storage on the grid that we can shut down the highest-risk transmission lines for longer periods of time without having power outages.

Casey Handmer has some interesting writing for people who are curious about this direction: https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2023/07/12/grid-storage-b...

The nice thing about batteries is that they get cheaper and cheaper over time, as opposed to generic construction in California, which seems to get more and more expensive over time.

replies(1): >>45807584 #
2. bix6 ◴[04 Nov 25 05:04 UTC] No.45807584[source]▶
I saw in the original article that they’ve given batteries to a number of folks. I was curious if each local town could install more solar or geothermal.