‘Peaker’ Gas Plants May Have Peaked After All

Bloomberg: California’s three investor-owned utilities have released the results of a study called for by the California Public Utilities Commission to assess the “effective load carrying capability” of various energy technologies—in other words, how much of a wind or solar plant’s total theoretical capacity can be counted on when the grid needs it most.

The findings are striking and significant for California’s future electricity mix, and really for the future of any grid aiming for, say, 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035. The study determined that wind energy will have a 19% effective load carrying capability in 2022, a wonky way of understanding how much wind power can get from plant to the grid in moments when the grid needs it most.

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