Read the passage.

Question

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Californians care about the environment more than anyone else in the world. The state has led the way in renewable energy. In 2015, California passed Senate Bill 350. The bill sets specific requirements for reducing the use of fossil fuels and increasing the use of renewable sources, like solar and wind power. Since 2015, the state has seen incredible progress toward these goals. Today, about a quarter of the state’s power comes from renewable sources, especially solar. But at what cost?

It is difficult to believe that this progress would be a problem for California, but it is. California is producing more energy than it can use. As California increases its use of renewable energy, it maintains and even expands on the use of fossil fuel energy. The two sides do not communicate well and often even work against each other. Energy from all these competing sources flows to one huge electrical grid. If the grid is overloaded, it causes blackouts. To prevent overload, the state must do something with the excess energy, but there is confusion around the best way to address that. No one seems to be running the energy policy show in California, and the result is chaos and waste.

So, why doesn’t California just sell its excess energy to other states? It does. Sometimes. If other states need extra energy, they are willing to pay for it. However, California often must give away or even pay other states to take the surplus. Why? Most states produce plenty of their own energy, so taking California’s extra power is more of a favor from them than a benefit to them.

A sad outcome of the confusion over how to best utilize solar energy is that Californians pay the price. Competing sides of the energy industry in the state are at war. For every solar or wind power plant that is built, a new natural gas plant is built. New transmission lines and delivery systems must be put into place and costs are covered by adding charges to Californians’ electric bills each month. Solar companies must pay other states to take excess power, and natural gas companies have to either shut down plants when there is an excess, or quickly ramp up production if there is a shortage. And consumers pay the price.

Answer 1

The passage discusses the challenges California faces despite its leadership in renewable energy and progress toward its environmental goals. While the state has significantly increased its renewable energy production, particularly through solar power, it has also encountered complications due to an overproduction of energy. This oversupply arises as California continues to rely on fossil fuels alongside its renewable initiatives, leading to a disjointed energy system where different sources do not efficiently coordinate.

The electrical grid, which is meant to handle energy flow from various sources, sometimes becomes overloaded, resulting in blackouts. Despite attempts to sell excess energy to neighboring states, California often finds itself having to give away energy or even pay other states to take surplus energy because those states have sufficient energy supply of their own. This situation is exacerbated by internal conflicts within California's energy sectors; every new renewable energy facility tends to be matched by the construction of natural gas plants, resulting in increased costs for consumers due to added charges on their electric bills.

Overall, while California has made commendable strides in renewable energy production, the lack of coherent energy policy and coordination among energy sources has led to inefficiencies, waste, and financial burdens on the state's residents.