USA, California:

California Power Grid Seen Able to Handle 100% Renewables (Bloomberg Business)

Michael Picker, president of the 

California Public Utilities Commission

California’s power grid could handle taking 100 percent of its supply from renewables such as wind and solar, and meeting the goal for half that amount will be no problem, the state’s chief energy regulator said.

Governor Jerry Brown in January set one of the world’s most ambitious targets for cleaning up power generation, saying 50 percent of supply should come from renewables by 2030, a dramatic increase from the current goal of 33 percent by 2020. He didn’t make clear how the goal could be achieved.

Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said the grid already is comfortably managing solar and wind energy that reached as much as 40 percent of the total a few days last year. In the years ahead, authorities can add the flexibility needed to manage power that flows only when the wind blows or the sun shines.

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