Nolte: Electricity-Starved California Discouraged Residents from Charging Electric Cars

An electric car and a plug-in hybrid car charge at a public charging station on October 12
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The electricity-starved third-world country that is California discouraged residents from charging their electric cars during a recent heatwave.

And if the fact that in the 21st century, an American state is incapable of delivering enough electricity to its residents isn’t troubling enough, consider this…

This very same electricity-starved California will, in a mere 13 years, ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles. And in a mere 8.5 years, 90 percent of the miles driven by ride-hailing services must be driven by electric vehicles. Oh, and California cities are already starting to ban the building of new gas stations.

So, what you have here is a state aggressively pushing its residents into electric cars when the state can’t generate enough electricity to charge those cars when the weather gets hot.

Currently, fewer than eight percent of the new cars sold in third-world California are electric. What happens when that doubles, triples? How is a state already starving for electricity going to keep its residents on the road?

Straight from the state, here’s what life is like for 40 million (and falling) Californians when it gets a little warm:

While the Flex Alert is in effect on Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., consumers are asked to:

  • Set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, if health permits
  • Avoid using major appliances
  • Turn off all unnecessary lights

To be as comfortable as possible during the Flex Alert hours, consumers are also strongly encouraged to take these steps earlier in the day:

  • Pre-cool your home by lowering the thermostat
  • Close window coverings to keep your home or apartment cool
  • If you need to use major appliances like your dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer, do so before the Flex Alert takes effect
  • Pre-charge electronic devices Close window coverings to keep your home or apartment cool
  • Pre-charge electric vehicles

Here’s the social media alert:

These Flex Alerts were lifted as the weather cooled, but July is coming, and most Californians do not live on the ocean in Santa Monica and Malibu.

Imagine you come home from work on a Friday night and your own government is suggesting (at least for now, it’s a suggestion) that you sit at home in the dark in an uncomfortable 78 (or higher) degrees and not use this downtime to get some household chores done, like laundry and the dishes.

Do you have any idea how unnecessary it is to live like this in this day and age?

Do you have any idea how much resources are available to generate plenty of electricity, including without emissions, if we choose nuclear power?

But instead of entering the 20th century — much less the 21st — California refuses to build more power plants, so when it gets a little hot, residents can either sit in a warm, dark house like their pre-enlightened ancestors or risk blackouts.

And what path is California on? Is it on a path to solve this easily solvable problem? No! California’s barreling towards making it worse by increasing the number of electricity-sucking cars on the road (or stuck in garages if the weather gets hot).

And no one in California is talking about building more power plants. All the talk is around building more chargers and ensuring people have a place to park a vehicle and charge it… But when faced with the fact that one report claims “energy generation will need to double by 2050 in order to keep up with demand,” here’s California’s brilliant idea to work around that:

Many current electric vehicle owners who are used to charging their vehicles overnight may need to shift their charging behaviors to optimize daylight hours, when more energy generated by solar and wind is accessible.

“You want to make sure that you’re balancing the amount of energy that comes onto the grid versus the energy that’s coming off the grid,” [Matthew Moniot of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory] said. “As long as you have educated drivers and customers—which is going to be a hard part—there’s a lot of room for EVs to participate in this balancing act in a favorable manner.”

But Patty Monahan, the lead commissioner on California’s Energy Commission, does say she’s “super excited” about offshore wind projects and solar.

Hey, I’m no expert, but I’m pretty comfortable predicting that wind power and staggered charging hours will not be anywhere near enough to handle what’s coming.

There is no reason to live like this. None. Unless, of course, you chose to, which the fools who vote for these California fools obviously do.

Well, I just hope that when they’re sweating out a Friday night in the dark that all the sanctimony that comes from owning us gas-guzzling Trumptards is enough to keep them comfortable.

Pardon me all to hell for choosing not to live like a barbarian.

Oh, and all of this nonsense is premised on the hoax that is Climate Change.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.