18 thoughts on “California”

  1. Let our hard working sun take a break?

    Does Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission even know how eclipses work?

    2. This sounds like the “if it’s yellow let it mellow” California propaganda hard at work.

    3. I am going to assume it was meant as a joke.

      Because that’s sensible, and the Principle of Charity.

  2. No one really knows what will happen?

    Uh, what do they do at night?

    This sounds like climate change or cargo cult theatre, the demand of a needless sacrifice as part of a ritual to reinforce behaviors and beliefs.

    1. To be fair, at night everyone isn’t running their A/C so much; the eclipse is going to happen during the day (obvs.).

      A power disruption at an odd time that we have no real precedent for (since massive solar installations are new, etc.) is something whose effects are at least partially unknown, no?

      (That said, the length of the eclipse and the fact that LA is well out of totality means I wouldn’t expect much but a small, transient spike in base generation.)

  3. Both the state and the individual have their responsibilities. The individual can’t shirk theirs, they have to live with the results if the state is their backup. The individual can choose for it not to be.

    The state is supposed to be managed, which should include predictable events. If not, they are not managing… they are shirking.

    Kind of puts the ‘go to planetary reserves’ line in the Star Trek movies in perspective. I always thought that was a howler.

    They have backup generators and reserve fuel, along with predictable usage rates. This should not be a difficult management problem.

  4. Why will this be any different from a mid-winter day when storms cover the state? At least here they can predict, with certainty, that there will be a decline in solar flux the morning of 21 August 2017 that will last only a few hours.

    1. “Seems it never rains in southern California
      Seems I’ve often heard that kind of talk before
      It never rains in California
      But girls don’t they warn ya
      It pours, man, it pours”

      Albert Hammond – It Never Rains In Southern California Lyrics | MetroLyrics

    2. A better question to ask is “why is this being treated differently than every previous solar eclipse?”

      1. Because the left lives in the now. There have never been any previous or any history what-so-ever… except: evil white men.

  5. The fearmongering does sound a bit like some of the more dire predictions about Y2K, which struck me at the time as just plain looney.

  6. Montgomery Burns tried to warn a photovoltaic-addicted society against the danger of an eclipse.

      1. My friend down the road and his family have been on solar power for years and he’s not rich (hard working.) They learned to use the power they have without missing what they don’t have. Which reminds me of the guy that never missed a meal. He had to skip a few, but never really missed them!

        We have the size of Musk’s home battery, but what’s its mass?

        You would not transport most batteries to mars because they are both massive and easy to make. Tesla’s batteries have to compete with other mfg on earth. This means nothing as to the viability of products in a different market. My friend will get by fine with the batteries he has, but perhaps will get Tesla’s if it makes sense in the future.

        People often have a very static view of economics which blinds them to its realities Something that doesn’t make sense in a common situation can easily make sense in an uncommon one..

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