California is the poster child for microgrids, usually in a good way, this week in a bad way.
The power outages to 738,000 electric customers illustrated that even California, one of the lead states deploying microgrids, is not building them quickly enough. Microgrids act as local islands of power when the central grid fails, or in this case when power is intentionally shut down as a safety precaution.
Some Californians had access to microgrids when the outage struck; most did not.
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) began shutting off power Wednesday under threat of high winds. The utility was concerned that downed power lines would spark fires that would quickly spread in windy conditions. In bankruptcy over earlier wildfires that resulted in loss of life, the utility was taking no chances.
Press reports described chaos as a big swath of the world’s fifth largest economy this week found itself without an essential resource.
The chaos of power outages
Car accidents increased as drivers tried to navigate without traffic lights. Stores lost perishable inventory. Those who require medical devices for their health counted the hours before they could no longer manage without them. Schools closed. Workers were sidelined without the Internet.
People were angry. The governor was angry. Economists warned that the cost to the California economy could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, or even “a cool billion.”
The Los Angeles Times described the power outage as “humiliating.”
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