What's going on in California?

[RobertN]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

Del,
There's been talk over the years, about us N. Calif folks getting tired of the S.Calif politics, water stealing, ect. There have been grumbling a number of times about splitting the state, but it's never gotten off the ground.

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[Harv]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

<font color=blue>the power company HAS to buy excess power he generates</font color=blue>

Bob - over the weekend I talked to an old buddy whose adult life has been dedicated to alternative energy resources. At his own house, he has a large array of solar cells on the roof feeding a bay of storage batteries in his basement. When the batteries are fully charged, the excess juice is converted into AC and is simply pumped into the power company's grid. He says it's quite simple -- if the demand from his house is less than the supply he is generating, the current simply starts flowing backwards through the meter onto the main grid. The electric meter is a simple device and it just runs backwards itself, thereby lowering his effective usage. You could say the power company is buying it back, but as you can see, it's even simpler than that. BTW -- this whole procedure is sanctioned by the power company.

Coincidentally, even before this energy crunch began, I was looking into alternative energy sources for my tractor property. So far it looks like I might be able to run just the lights through solar cells, but I'd have to mount them on a tower to overcome the shade of the trees. During the winter I might be able to harness the overflow from the pond by hooking up my own little turbine generator. A windmill probably wouldn't do well in that area -- just not enough wind on most days.

The real problem is heating the house. The existing furnace is all electric, which is a very inefficient way to go. The simplest route there might just be to put in a propane system (although propane is getting pretty pricey, too). I've been following the threads on woodburners and geothermal heat pumps, but I'm not sure the answer is there, either.

BTW - I occassionally drive through the Altamont Pass "wind farm" that RobertN mentioned (last time was to buy my tractor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif). It's really one of the most amazing sights you can imagine -- hundreds, if not thousands, of giant windmills covering the landscape as far as the eye can see. You drive for mile after mile and the windmills just keep popping up on the horizon. The attached picture shows but a tiny fraction of the "farm".

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

del,

This evening driving home I heard that California was falling behind on their 2 for 1 a payback agreement. For every watt-hour we send down, they are supposed to pay back 2 watt-hours. How does this make sense? All else equal, sounds like they are getting shafted just because we can. I'm sure this is more complicated then it appears but as a minimum doesn't sound very neighborly to me./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif The vast majority of the folks without power didn't have a whole lot to do with this mess.

 

[jimmoore]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

Am I lost in the woods? I thought that deregulation meant removing a lot of restrictions and allowing companies to compete in the marketplace for customers and letting supply and demand settle down. The way I understand it, Cal passed a law that set a cap on how much the power companies could charge for power and did not allow the distrubution companies to own their own plants. Now fuel cost have skyrocketed and they have to pay more for electricity than they can charge the customer. I am just an old backward country boy, but that just don't make sense to me??

jim

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

It's always going be us poor dumb working stiffs that pay the tab. Seems just like yesterday the forecasters and those in power went full bore on 5 new power plants (The "WPPSS" pronounced WOOPS! fiasco). Only one of the plants were ever completed the other 4 were scrapped in various stages of construction (HUGE $$ LOSS). Now there is no power just because Mother Nature says no rain for awhile!

del

 

[cowboydoc]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

Harv,
Was curious on why wood wouldn't be the way to go for you? We've heated with wood all my life. A good woodstove will heat your house to any degree you want it. With all those trees around your place you'd have a lifetime supply. I know there are risks to wood but if you have the stove installed properly and maintain it there are no more risks than any other form of heat.
Richard

 

[cowboydoc]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

Yea tell me about it I lost alot of money on that deal in bonds.
Richard

 

[bpence]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

Sounds kind of like the Lower Penninsula vs. the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. A few years ago the U.P. was going to try and become a state unto itself - Superior - as I recall it didn't go very far. The folks in the U.P. are always complaining about the politics in the Lower and how State government is short changing the Yoopers in favor of the city of Detroit. The folks in the Lower are always complaining about what it costs to maintain the roads and infrastructure in the U.P. and support the welfare rolls there. Maybe when I retire I'll move to the U.P., resurrect the state of Superior idea, and appoint myself Shogun.


Bob Pence

 

[RobertN]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

Hey Harv,
Have you ever been down through Tehachapi, N/W of Mojave and Edwards AFB? They have a gazillion windmills too. The "egg-beater" ones are cool to watch.

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[Harv]

Re: What\'s going on in California?

Richard -

We do have a very nice wood stove in the main room of the house, and we certainly have the wood supply.

The problem is that I'm only there a couple of times a month. The full-time resident of the house is my mother, who unfortunately is sufficiently senile that we've had to take away her matches. We have two caretakers working a rotation of sorts, but they are not there every minute, and Mom has already demonstrated that for her to play with fire at this point would be an open invitation to disaster. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Now that you've got me thinking about it, though, we might be able to work out some sort of arrangement where the caretakers can stoke it up at least a few hours a day. That would certainly help with the heating costs.

Thanks for steering me back to the obvious. I need that sometimes. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif