Mass Storm Outages Bring Misery Across California, Exposing Power Grid’s Vulnerabilities

LA Times: EcoBlock Senior Advisor Dr. Alexandra “Sascha” von Meier weighs in on the state of California’s electric grid in light of recent winter storms that have prompted major evacuations and left thousands without power.

“Those are not conditions that the system was designed for or engineered for,” said Sascha, which is why she would like to see more outside-the-box energy planning, especially focused on renewables, their storage, and transmission.

“We’re looking at radical, bigger picture” ideas, she continued. “If we do it right, we’re going to build a lot of excess capacity of solar and wind generation.”

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Getting Off Gas, Block by Block

Despite its complexities, block-level decommissioning is likely more effective than an individual, house-by-house approach, offering untapped economies of scale that can be replicated across California. Dr. Therese Peffer provides insight into the challenges of pruning gas at the neighborhood block scale and its implications for the Oakland EcoBlock project.

Guest Talk by Benjamin Jones: How Harmful is Indoor Air? (July 31)

Curious about the effects of indoor air on human health and well-being? UC Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment will host a guest talk by Professor Benjamin Jones from the University of Nottingham on July 31 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm PT. This is a hybrid in-person and online event.