State leaders in California say they’re better prepared to avoid the rotating and tolling electrical blackouts the state experienced last year—blackouts criticized by Oklahoma congressman Markwayne Mullin.
In an interview last fall with OK Energy Today in which he warned of the extreme anti-fossil fuel steps that would be taken under a Biden presidency, Rep. Mullin spoke of personally experiencing the blackouts while visiting California for medial treatments of his injured teenage son.
He was in Bakersfield, California “and during the summer at 7 o’clock, we started having rolling blackouts.” Mulling said it was “very common” to lose power for 7 to 8 p.m.
“It was the fact the sun quit shining and all the solar panels went off line and when all the solar panels went off line, you didn’t have enough electricity to meet the demand,” said the Congressman who was critical of California for relying too much on renewable power.
“That will tell you what happens when you go to all renewables—you have to use it when it’s there. When it’s not there, it’s not there.”
This week, California’s top energy regulators said the state is better prepared but they also cautioned the power grid is still vulnerable to extreme heat waves that could result in more outages.
The Associated Press reported the state has acquired another 3,500 megawatts of capacity ahead of an anticipated hot summer which would like increase demand beyond the capability of the grid. It also included another 2,000 megawatts of batteries that are designed to store energy from renewable sources like the solar power referred to by Rep. Mullin.
Mullin sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is also a co-chair of the House Energy Action Team which was revived in 2020.
Rep. Mullin still contends the nation’s leaders, such as California Gov. Newsome, are wrong to urge a total ban on combustible engines.
“We shouldn’t eliminate one,” said Mullin last fall before the November presidential elections. “We should have all of the above energy approach.”
