kay_gmd: Snow train (Default)
Prop 30
Energy Availability

I’m hearing that one of the complaints about Prop 30 is a concern that the grid won’t have enough power for all the electric vehicles.

The major problem with power availability is not a lack of supply so much as a lack of supply if we all use it at once. The current grid is mostly set up well for the regular use of the population as far as supply, but it assumes we’re not all going to use as much energy as possible all the time. Most of the time that works fine, and is far more efficient than making sure there is energy to cover that maximum use. It’s like having 4 people living in a 2 bathroom home, you could move to a place with 4 bathrooms so that no one ever has to wait, but that’s a much more expensive home so we can accept sometimes waiting and pay less for housing.

Utilities know when the high use times are, they try to discourage use then with higher rates, and sometimes flex alerts. If charging adds significantly to those peak times it could required increased production, but even then it would take a huge number of vehicles for it to be a significant factor.

(I’m talking statewide, there are probably some local areas where this would have an impact sooner, which is one of the reasons you should talk to your utility if your planning on installing a charger.)

With few exceptions electric vehicles don’t need to be charging during high use times. We just saw that with the week of flex alerts because of the heat. In fact some electric school buses actually provided electricity to the grid when it was most needed.


A massive increase in use of electric vehicles will eventually mean we need more power overall, but that will take quite a large uptake, and the grid has dealt with this before, when air conditioning became more common, and personal computers started being in many more households as examples.

Transportation does take a significant amount of energy, and if we want to reduce pollutants in the air, reduce greenhouse gases, and/or move away from fossil fuels electric is a good solution, and eventually we’ll need more unless we cut back on other uses, or gain in efficiency. The CPUC, and utilities are already planning for this increased need.

Electric vehicles can also help with incorporating more renewables into the system. One of the problems with wind and solar is that the energy is available when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, but not all the time. That’s great when the grid usage matches up, but means there’s renewable energy we don’t use when there is more available than would be used, and we use something else (in CA mostly natural gas with some nuclear) when there’s demand that isn’t met. Electric vehicles are giant batteries on wheels, and for most of us they sit around most of the time. If they’re integrated into the grid they can help match grid usage to renewable output.

The first step of this is smart charging where vehicles are charged when there’s a lot of electricity available, and don’t charge when there isn’t. This can be done now with most chargers, or even just a smart plug, and communication.

There’s exciting potential for a situation where the utility or your home, if you’re plugged in at home, could pull electricity from the battery when there is less electricity available this can minimize peaks in need, and save on energy bills. Even small cars have batteries bigger than most home battery storage. For instance my 2013 Leaf has a 24 kWh battery, and that’s more than 2 energy walls.

It would also allow for powering vital things during a power outage, and even moving power from a place where the power is on to somewhere it isn’t if necessary (this is not efficient as a regular thing, but could help in emergencies or for specific situations).

This all means that while long term a population level switch to electric vehicles will mean a need for more electricity the ramp up will be slow, and more flexible than current usage.

I can’t imagine Prop 30 increasing electricity use to a point that the utilities aren’t ready for.

Also with the ZEV mandate in place the vehicles will be coming anyway these funds will help make that easier for those that would have trouble switching, and/or have trouble charging.
kay_gmd: (fair)
Ankle is doing much better.  No dancing last night, but I would have tried for a Rufty or Hearts Ease.

I took the stairs up one floor at lunch today, and it didn't seem to be a problem.

For Earth Day work is, a long with other things, is encouraging us to turn in our trash cans.  There are still plenty around, but the idea is that there's a savings because otherwise all of the trashcans get emptied each night, or however often they do.

I'm happily going along with it.  I've got about one dirty tupperware full of trash, much of which is compostable, and so I'll add it to the pile in the backyard.

I still maintain my box of recycling, but that's always been a thing that I periodically dump in the main bin.

It's the end of the fiscal year, and I'm in the middle of hurry frantically and then wait.  This is a wait point thus the post.

Zoom Zoom!

Apr. 17th, 2013 11:44 am
kay_gmd: (fair)
In June 2007 I started working at the Energy Commission in downtown Sac, and started commuting by bus.  Since Groblek was commuting by bike at some point after that we decided to become a one car household.  IT saved us a good chunk of money, and we were really quite content with it.

It's become less convenient since Groblek's been commuting by car to Richmond, but we've made it work.  Even while I was poking at car options (our 2001 Saturn won't last forever) I'd been assuming we'd be trading in or selling the Saturn when we got a new to us car.

Then Groblek suggested that we keep the Saturn so that we'd have a car for those times when I need one.  I totally agreed with this idea.

So we have returned, for the life of the Saturn (it's running reasonably well, but the AC doesn't work, and it needs periodic additional oil), to a two car household.

Understand, I'm thrilled about the shiny new to us 2010 Prius!  I get to appease my Energy Commission geek by having a hybrid, and it's supper comfortable and quiet, and it has more carrying capacity than we're used to.  Also it's just nice (for the moment) to have a clean car that hasn't acquired the massive clutter that our cars always do (which is soooo much more so since Kosh joined us).

But the concept that on the 23rd when I have 2 doctors appointments I can drive Kosh into daycare, drive home (I had to spend the furlough somewhere) drive to appointment one, if there's time go somewhere for lunch, go to appointment two, have some more time at home before going to pick up Kosh.  Rather than bus Kosh in wait/bus most likely straight to the doc kill time between appointments, bus back to pick up Kosh (I was planning this I probably could have bussed home briefly, but it was going to be significantly more convenient to spend the entire day busing, waiting, or killing time at a location related to transit.

I'm deeply grateful that I can do it all by bus when necessary.  I've done it before, and will likely do it again.  I love that I can.  I'm also massively enjoying the idea that I don't have to.

I also absolutely love the daily commute by bus. Especially with Kosh it's just nice to have those 2 chunks of time where there's nothing to do except focus on Kosh, and talking to the other bus folk.

I've also been really lucky to be able to borrow other folks cars, or cage rides.

To that end I'm thinking about opening up the Saturn to those who need a car for a bit.  I'm calling priority.  No one gets to borrow it on the 23rd, but if you need a car for a relatively defined period of time and want to borrow it contact me, and we'll see if it works.
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