This is underselling it, if anything. The multi-day heatwave around Labor Day 2022 extended across most of the western US, not just California. The electricity demand during that event set what was at the time the all time record for the entire Western Interconnection (since surpassed in 2024) and set what is still today the all time record for CAISO.
In 2020, there were extremely high heat days in August, with wildfire smoke covering the state. Thankfully I was out of town, but my wife was suffering, unable to cool the house OR open a window. In 2021 or 2022 I finally broke down and bought a window-mounted AC unit for my office, as I work from home. In 2024 and 2025 I didn't even bother installing it, the summers have been so mild.
https://www.caiso.com/documents/californiaisopeakloadhistory...
Where I live now in the Netherlands, it feels like 30-40% of private homes have solar and 80%+ of business and government buildings that use more energy during the daylight hours so the payoff is much more realizable.
Our dear leader has been busy decimating small businesses that rely on federal incentives to build renewable power generation lately. This hit particularly hard in Texas.
The boss move is buying a plan with cheap to free electricity at night in exchange for a ludicrous day rate, bonus points for buying batteries to self-consume and/or charge at night as needed.
Going strictly by the numbers, it's a judgment call as to whether it's "worth it" or not, but the power independence for doing so is fantastic IMO YMMV. My Maslow hierarchy may not match yours.
Gardens and vinyl siding get shredded by hail and vehicles get smashed up, but solar panels generally do fine.
[0]: https://www.energy.gov/femp/hail-damage-mitigation-solar-pho...
> Manufacturers Say Hail Yes to Solar Panel TestingThat's the whole other side to this curve which isn't seen very clearly in grid analysis.
I moved to Western Europe from a US state where airco is mandatory. I purchased a split unit here and on the worst summer weeks, it still only cost me €10 to run the unit on its coldest setting for a week (almost continuously since I was using it with a fan to blow cooler air around the rest of the house). Back in the US, I had summer electricity bills of hundreds of dollars every year.
Sure, the weather is a bit more mild here, but there have been heat waves, and I’m definitely an outlier when it comes to usage. But that just goes to show how efficient these new units are!
Since 2022 California has energy from solar by roughly 50%, while the population has decreased. Solar is now the biggest source of energy in California, and continues to grow. That means that future heatwaves should be handled well enough.
Solar depresses the energy demand during the middle of the day. Energy storage smooths out the load profile.
California did struggle with the duck curve but it’s less of a problem now. When the next heatwave comes, evening aircon demand won’t be a problem.
The point of my top-level comment was that we don't actually know that. Not yet.
I'll be thrilled if that's the case. I'll also be very surprised.
Will it handle an extended heatwave that also affects other states simultaneously? You’re right, we can’t know that with certainty until after it happens. But based on what I’ve read I’m confident it will.
Isn't that scenario a problem only when the output from solar is insufficient to meet the aggregate demand?
From a naive point of view, it looks like this issue would be easily mitigated if supply from solar was increased enough to allow energy to be stored during peak hours so that it could be introduced back in the grid during sunset. Why is this scenario being ignored in a thread on how California is investing in battery energy storage?
I know folks in Phoenix who are on a time-of-day plan and they max out the AC overnight and then barely use it during the day (same goal, just they don't have solar)
I run the AC down to 64 overnight, and it's usually comfortable until well into the afternoon before it starts running at 73-74.
It just has to help the problem.
Rooftop home solar+storage also doesn't have to SOLVE THE PROBLEM IN TOTALITY. It just has to help.
Energy is a cornucopia of solutions, which is a good thing. We aren't going to get everything from nuclear, it is far too expensive and can't function as a peaker (unless we had LFTR but oh well). Geothermal has a lot of potential, but it isn't perfect and probably investment heavy. Gas peaking is regrettable, but necessary currently. Solar and wind are by far the cheapest, but intermittent.
The goal should be stable, available, cheap energy. The path to that is solar + wind + battery + peaking + home solar/storage, but the grid monopolists aren't interested in cheap energy or the loss of control that home solar/storage comes with.
The fact that wind and solar are so cheap but grid prices are so expensive is an absolute SCANDAL.
Power outages are still a common threat, it's just that now they are caused by the power companies under the guise of wildfire prevention.
I don't care if my power goes out because of lack of supply or because you didn't maintain the transmission lines properly - the result is the same - I'm angry.
If they are busy counting their profits instead of focusing on providing a safe, reliable service, then I think it's reasonable to be angry with them.
when will it replace the headline in editorial importance?
The demand lags the sunshine which is why it's a non-trivial problem.