California Adding 5 Temporary Natural Gas Power Plants to Help Alleviate Energy

The California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) announced on Thursday that the state will be temporarily expanding natural gas power by adding new power plants due to energy supply concerns.

According to the CDWR, five new gas powered generators will be temporarily installed in existing power plants. Each generator will produce up to 30 megawatts each, for a grand total of 150 megawatts at full capacity, enough to power roughly 25,000 homes. All 5 generators are expected to be online around mid-September.

Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Marysville) commented on Twitter about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s emergency proclamation:

“Desperate to avoid blackouts caused by his own mismanagement, Newsom turns to the same natural gas plants he has vilified. How many ways can you spell hypocrisy?

Desperate to avoid blackouts caused by his own mismanagement, Newsom turns to the same natural gas plants he has vilified. How many ways can you spell hypocrisy? pic.twitter.com/HWnGuewCwg

— James Gallagher (@J_GallagherAD3) August 20, 2021

The addition of several new gas-powered plants had been more and more expected in the last several months. Rolling blackouts in high energy use months in 2020 caused by energy limitations, the first in twenty years, signaled the need of more electrical resources in 2021. However, due to green energy plants not being added fast enough, the closure of more fossil fuel plants, and hydroelectric dams starting to go offline due to not enough water being in reservoirs to generate electricity, the state saw that an energy shortage was coming.

Last month, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency over the power grid. In addition to ordering solar, wind, and other green power plants currently being planned and built to be expedited, he also temporarily removed many air quality rules, hinting at allowing more fossil fuel powered plants to be expanded on.

The 2020 blackouts should have been a wakeup call for Newsom. But to no one’s surprise, it was biz as usual in CA. Now he’s in complete panic mode trying to keep the lights on. https://t.co/Gp4FLprByY

— James Gallagher (@J_GallagherAD3) August 20, 2021

Despite opposition from environmental groups, Californian regulator groups quickly moved into action after finding out that that state may be short by as much as 3,500 megawatts during peak energy times for the rest of the year. While freed up energy resources and conservation measures would take care of much of that gap, it was clear that more energy would need to be produced. The CDWR soon had the generator idea and was backed up by the California Energy Commission (CEC), who approved licenses for temporary gas generators for up to five years on Tuesday.