California's Excellent Problem - Excess Solar Energy!

You'd think too much solar is a good problem to have! But not necessarily. After I read your post, npr had an interesting story on this. It seems that natural gas plants are still needed in the mix because of course you can't rely on solar consistently at all times (maybe we can when we work out amazing long term storage options), and a delicate balance is needed to make this all work out smoothly. With too much power in the system, there's a risk of blackout from the excess. And this is a problem that needs solutions, as California barrels towards a goal of 50% renewable energy by 2030. Apparently there is so much excess that sometimes solar farms are told to shut down, which is unfortunate. This happened in March 27 - can you imagine telling a solar farm to stop collecting what is virtually free energy? This seems contrary to all climate and environmental goals. One solution you mention seems obvious and easy - California should just share this power with neighboring states for a huge win-win. And this is what California's Independent Grid Operator has proposed. Oddly, there seem some hard-to-believe politics in the way. PacifiCorp, a utility that runs a grid in Oregon, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming isn't sure it wants this clean power. Even though customers in these states and California could save $154-$335 million annually! And California perceives a disincentive for "getting involved" with a coal company? Sharing clean power somehow makes California less clean? And taking Calinfornia's power is perceived as a risk to coal interests in these other states? Surely calmer heads will prevail, right? Apparently the soonest integration can happen in 2019. That's unfortunate. At least it sounds like Arizona was smarter - and faster. To read or listen to the KQED npr science piece: http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/04/04/what-will-california-do-with-too-much-solar/