Runaway forest fires and large electric grids are a bad recipe. Season them with climate change and you could have a disaster. By the time experts reach the smoldering ruins we may never know what caused the conflagration. One thing is for sure in our minds though. The latest California fires question whether state-wide grids are sustainable.
The Twisted Threads Between the Latest California Fires
Distribution engineers know they need to keep the area under power lines clear. That’s because they can spark a fire if the cables come down. Moreover, flames shooting up from burning forest giants can trip their systems.
However, this practice seems to have fallen into a crack. Perhaps they can’t keep up with trees growing faster as the climate warms. What we do know is the latest California fires at Kincade started shortly after damage to a power line. And that they switched off electricity in a million homes to avoid triggering more blazes. Meanwhile high winds continue to fuel flames in a remote, steep terrain.
Perhaps This Is the Signal to Close Large Power Stations
Large, central power stations followed America’s burgeoning wealth and population growth. They suited utilities because they could add more units for expansion using the same infrastructure. Huge power lines followed naturally fanning out across vast terrain. This is how California ended up with millions of people depending on a single run of cable.
Perhaps decentralized, renewable energy and large storage batteries should signal the end of this ineffective arrangement. The impact of the latest California fires would be less if the line break near Kincade affected a smaller group of local customers. Moreover, this would manage transmission losses down.
We are going to do everything in our power to make sure the utility never does this to us again, says Gov. Nelson. We hope more battery energy will be part of his solution soon.
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Preview Image: Geothermal Power Plant
