PG&E (Photo – Graphics Dept.)
I was surprised to see PG&E install diesel powered generators to provide energy to the grid during recent high wind storms.
By Cheryl Auger
They needed distributed sources of energy to help meet demand while PG&E curtailed their transmission lines due to several previous fires. Knowing that we are in a climate crisis I was surprised to see diesel as the utilities choice of back-up energy. Diesel is dirty. Diesel pollutes. Diesel is made from petroleum and is one of the reasons our air quality didn’t improve during Covid since the trucking lobbyists got the trucking industry exempt from clean air standards years ago. It’s also the reason that our ports have diminished air quality right now due to the cargo ships hanging out waiting to be unloaded. They also use diesel.
According to the EPA, the health and climate impacts of diesel are not insignificant. Exposure to diesel exhaust can lead to serious health conditions like asthma and respiratory illnesses and can worsen existing instances of heart and lung disease. Emissions from diesel engines contribute to the production of ground-level ozone which damages crops, trees and other vegetation. Acid rain is produced by diesel emissions and affects soil, lakes and streams and enters the human food chain via water, produce, meat and fish. And all of this exacerbates global warming.
Green energy has become cost effective and solar is one of the best means to improve reliability of energy without impacting the climate or fracking fossil fuels. PG&E should be looking to rooftop solar to provide the extra distributed energy and reduce the demand on the grid. Instead, PG & E along with SCE and SDG&E have drafted a new rate structure, NEM-3 which is set to be approved soon by the CPUC. This new rate structure will kill rooftop solar sales since it increases connection fees and reduces rooftop solar payments, making the return on investment for future solar systems too long to be desirable as an investment.
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