California is now producing so much solar energy that the state must increasingly ask solar farms to stop producing to prevent overloading the electric grid. In the last 12 months, power that would have fueled 518,000 California homes for a year has been curtailed or thrown away.
California is making so much solar energy that large commercial operators are increasingly forced to stop production, raising questions about the state’s costly plan to shift entirely to carbon-free sources of electricity.
provide hints of which out-of-state utilities have benefited. In 2022, the Public Service Company of New Mexico paid an average of $14 less per megawatt hour when California’s grid became clogged with solar, according to a CAISO report. That year, the New Mexico utility said it saved $34 million by participating in the market California created to get rid of its excess power.
a nonprofit company, is overseen by a board nominated by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. The commercial solar industry contends that the expansion of storage capacity to bank solar power will eventually eliminate the glut. “Successfully increasing storage and solar together will reduce our reliance on natural gas power plants, helping to meet California’s clean energy goals,” said Shannon Eddy, executive director of the Large-Scale Solar Assn., a trade group.
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