California: Green Energy Meets Demand

[SunTrader]

Different subject, but yeah I agree with you. PG&E is one of those "too big to fail" northern CA company with 12000 union workers making well above average pay in high paying California. In effect, you're subsidizing union labor so they can live middle class lives in expensive greater Bay Area.

But the problem is much worse than that and crosses into all union dominated industries.

Insurance companies are pulling out of Northern California because fires have become too common in suburbs expending into grass land. One of the major guilty party is PG&E with its power lines dangling in the wind during dry seasons.
Everyone there pretends there's nothing that can done about it, even though it's bull. But the solution is expensive and the consequence would lead to loss of union jobs and loss of revenue stream.
The solution comes from Europe where nearly all local power lines are underground. Trenching is the solution! But that's not PG&E's forte; they like poles. And anyone's who has ever tried to stir union labor to do something that's not negotiated knows how difficult the way forward is (Ford, GM?). Of course, unions won't allow private businesses to bid for trenching at half the price. They'll want retraining from pole climber to trench digger and add new workers and increase pay while we're at it, to make up for the trauma caused by this transition.
Once cables are underground, there's far less maintenance involved, meaning less labor required. Good for the employer, bad for the union. Also, poles are a source of income for the company. Anyone wishing to tie up to the poles (like cable companies) have to pay a leasing fee. No poles, no fees.
As a result, nothing changes. PG&E pays millions in fines to the government, or rather, consumers pay millions in fines to the government via increased rates. It cannot go out of business, providing a key service to the region, so they ask for and receive approval to raise rates again.
This is a triangular scam, where government is supported and elected by the large union groups. Union labor is paid middle class income in jobs that could be done for half the cost, and white collar employers are getting fat pay packages in an uncompetitive environment. Consumers are the only ones getting fkd paying increasingly exorbitant electricity bills.

LOL Utility won't bury powerlines because of .......... Unions wanting middle class wages. The nerve of them.

 

[ironchef]

%%
Sounds like the nuke cut was a bad idea.

It is a great idea if you and 500,000 others live within 50 miles of one and it sits on an earthquake fault line.

 

[ironchef]

But actually it could work in CA\they had so many leave,power demand could be waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down.

After that, we can sell our excess wind and solar generated electricity to red states like Texas.

 

[SunTrader]

After that, we can sell our excess wind and solar generated electricity to red states like Texas.

At the rate red-state Texas is going with renewables they won't need anything else not too many years from now. Well ok maybe 10 or 15.

Big Hat, No Oil soon.

Blasphemous I say, blasphemous.

 

[VicBee]

LOL Utility won't bury powerlines because of .......... Unions wanting middle class wages. The nerve of them.

It's like paying burger flippers $30/hr. Why not?

 

[SunTrader]

It's like paying burger flippers $30/hr. Why not?

Why not if that guy from Hell's Kitchen makes what he does.

Anyway its a job, shouldn't someone earn a livable wage doing it or would you rather they spit it in before handing it to the cashier, show up when they feel like or take their sweet ass time doing it?

They are not farm workers per se but shouldn't we value farm workers and restaurant workers, who are providing nourishment (yea I know you'll say you don't eat burgers and fries) to sustain us, just a little bit better than we do?

Also some companies already were paying, in some locations, $20/hour, because that is what the marketplace called for. Should it be mandatory state-wise prolly not, but can't satisfy all the people all the time.

 

[SunTrader]

Had never occurred to me - what's to stop someone from changing out, decent batteries of a late-model EV, for tired old ones before they sell or trade-in their vehicle?

Then again, wonder what "user history" entails below?

(SEMAFOR)
Volvo to issue EV battery passport


TT News Agency via Reuters

Volvo will issue the world’s first “passport” for electric vehicle batteries. All EVs sold in the European Union from 2027 will need to report the origins of their constituent parts, their carbon footprint, and their user history. The move addresses some concerns over the sourcing of raw materials, much like a “conflict-free” diamond certificate — lithium and other minerals used in batteries often come from unsafe or ecologically damaging mines. And it’s also to ease secondhand purchases of EVs: One engineering academic told Electrek that mileage doesn’t fully reflect battery health, and that tracking a battery’s life will help customers “learn much more about the vehicle they’re buying.” The passports will be based on the blockchain and in theory unfalsifiable.

 

[murray t turtle]

After that, we can sell our excess wind and solar generated electricity to red states like Texas.

%%
Lady in the news\ bought an EV in CO with $7000 CO electric rebate for less that $777
WOW, great buy , 80 miles range i think she saidd Dont know if she goes to MCD.

 

[VicBee]

Had never occurred to me - what's to stop someone from changing out, decent batteries of a late-model EV, for tired old ones before they sell or trade-in their vehicle?

Then again, wonder what "user history" entails below?

(SEMAFOR)
Volvo to issue EV battery passport


TT News Agency via Reuters

Volvo will issue the world’s first “passport” for electric vehicle batteries. All EVs sold in the European Union from 2027 will need to report the origins of their constituent parts, their carbon footprint, and their user history. The move addresses some concerns over the sourcing of raw materials, much like a “conflict-free” diamond certificate — lithium and other minerals used in batteries often come from unsafe or ecologically damaging mines. And it’s also to ease secondhand purchases of EVs: One engineering academic told Electrek that mileage doesn’t fully reflect battery health, and that tracking a battery’s life will help customers “learn much more about the vehicle they’re buying.” The passports will be based on the blockchain and in theory unfalsifiable.

I was watching a Munro breakdown of the Cybertruck battery pack a few days ago. The hard sealant used to protect the packs are an sob to remove and I can't see how bad batteries can be swapped at all. Certainly there needs to be some sort of mandatory quality certification on these batteries, traceable to a point of manufacturing. We hear of the spontaneous combustion of poor battery quality products and, with time, it is likely that some 3rd grade manufacturers will try to sell swappable packs of dubious quality for half the price. As laptops register batteries in the system, the same could/should be done on vehicles?
The issue is not uncommon with ICE vehicles, as engine parts are swapped for better or worse quality than manufacturers parts.

 

[VicBee]

Why not if that guy from Hell's Kitchen makes what he does.

Anyway its a job, shouldn't someone earn a livable wage doing it or would you rather they spit it in before handing it to the cashier, show up when they feel like or take their sweet ass time doing it?

They are not farm workers per se but shouldn't we value farm workers and restaurant workers, who are providing nourishment (yea I know you'll say you don't eat burgers and fries) to sustain us, just a little bit better than we do?

Also some companies already were paying, in some locations, $20/hour, because that is what the marketplace called for. Should it be mandatory state-wise prolly not, but can't satisfy all the people all the time.

That's a no end discussion about cost of labor versus living wage. The US in particular has always had these low paid jobs for skill less labor, like kids in school or new migrants. They weren't meant to be living wage jobs, more like pocket money or subsistence wages that one climbed out of with experience. Both employers and employees recognized these were temp jobs that have been key to the fluid American employment landscape.
Europe struggles with unemployment precisely because these jobs are difficult to create within rigid employment regulations. As a consequence, while jobs there come with all the protections of social safety coverage, wages are low and permanent employment is hard to find for those entering the job market.

I'll admit to my biais because I've experienced both. Those employment protections and guarantees are double edged. They are a selection and job barrier where there should be none when the jobs can be learned in days. In Europe every little job becomes a profession requiring a specific diploma. Out of college kids dream of minimum wage secured full time employment, and it's depressing.