California is cursed with a need to regulate energy deregulation, so it can't do the obvious thing like let utility companies buy transmission lines or sign long-term contracts - instead, companies have to buy on the spot market but they can't pass that cost along to customers either, so in times of high energy demand, like right now, you are going to get rolling brown outs.
But we have a new $500 million clean energy plant that just came online. No it isn't solar power, this will actually provide energy. It's natural gas, far cleaner than coal, making it the cleanest energy source in California since the state banned nuclear power.
It's 300-megawatt, making it over 50% smaller than the smallest nuclear power plant in America (Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska, which has 1 reactor and only 478 MW) but at least it's something. It also has a "fast-start" capability so it can ramp as much as 200 megawatts in 30 minutes, about three times faster than most power plants.
It was on time and on budget, but not without controversy. Unions naturally donated money to all the right people and so these were all union jobs, including from outside the local area, it was claimed, which was a violation of the contract.
Staying power: State-of-the-art clean energy behemoth dedicated in Lodi by Keith Reid, Recordnet.com
