The Prince of Wales was granted permission today to install dozens of solar panels on his home at Clarence House in the latest move to cut his carbon footprint.
The 32 solar photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity, can now be installed on the south-east roof of the central London residence, which has been a home to royalty for 170 years.
The panels are expected to produce around 4,000 kilowatt hours of green electricity a year - equivalent to the electricity used by the average household in the capital.
According to the planning application, approved by Westminster Council, the solar panels will be hidden from view by the high parapet balustrade on the Grade I listed building.
An environmental assessment of the scheme said it would be the latest in a line of renewable energy projects by the Prince's household which aim to cut carbon emissions and raise the profile of green technology.
The news that the scheme had been approved came as energy regulator Ofgem revealed that a record number of homeowners had solar panels installed this month.
The boost to the technology, which has seen solar panels fitted to 2,257 homes so far this month, up from 1,700 in July and 1,400 in June, stems from the Government's "feed-in tariff" scheme which now pays people for the green energy they generate.
A spokesman for Westminster City Council said: "We have approved the planning application from Clarence House.
"There were no objections and the application was not considered contentious.
"We trust it will make a positive contribution to the Prince of Wales's efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of Clarence House."
Clarence House has already had energy efficient boilers and lights installed, while other royal properties have wood chip boilers and his cars run on cooking oil or even, in the case of his Aston Martin, on bioethanol from surplus wine.
A Clarence House spokeswoman said of the granting of the application: "This is good news, particularly as next month Clarence House Gardens will be hosting the 'Start garden party to make a difference', which will showcase various measures people could take to live a more sustainable lifestyle."
ITER Nuclear Fusion advances tokamak magnetic confinement, heating deuterium-tritium plasma with superconducting magnets, targeting net energy gain, tritium breeding, and steam-turbine power, while complementing laser inertial confinement milestones for grid-scale electricity and 2025 startup goals.
Key Points
ITER Nuclear Fusion is a tokamak project confining D-T plasma with magnets to achieve net energy gain and clean power.
✅ Tokamak magnetic confinement with high-temp superconducting coils
✅ Deuterium-tritium fuel cycle with on-site tritium breeding
✅ Targets net energy gain and grid-scale, low-carbon electricity
It sounds like the stuff of dreams: a virtually limitless source of energy that doesn’t produce greenhouse gases or radioactive waste. That’s the promise of nuclear fusion, often described as the holy grail of clean energy by proponents, which for decades has been nothing more than a fantasy due to insurmountable technical challenges. But things are heating up in what has turned into a race to create what amounts to an artificial sun here on Earth, one that can provide power for our kettles, cars and light bulbs.
Today’s nuclear power plants create electricity through nuclear fission, in which atoms are split, with next-gen nuclear power exploring smaller, cheaper, safer designs that remain distinct from fusion. Nuclear fusion however, involves combining atomic nuclei to release energy. It’s the same reaction that’s taking place at the Sun’s core. But overcoming the natural repulsion between atomic nuclei and maintaining the right conditions for fusion to occur isn’t straightforward. And doing so in a way that produces more energy than the reaction consumes has been beyond the grasp of the finest minds in physics for decades.
But perhaps not for much longer. Some major technical challenges have been overcome in the past few years and governments around the world have been pouring money into fusion power research as part of a broader green industrial revolution under way in several regions. There are also over 20 private ventures in the UK, US, Europe, China and Australia vying to be the first to make fusion energy production a reality.
“People are saying, ‘If it really is the ultimate solution, let’s find out whether it works or not,’” says Dr Tim Luce, head of science and operation at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), being built in southeast France. ITER is the biggest throw of the fusion dice yet.
Its $22bn (£15.9bn) build cost is being met by the governments of two-thirds of the world’s population, including the EU, the US, China and Russia, at a time when Europe is losing nuclear power and needs energy, and when it’s fired up in 2025 it’ll be the world’s largest fusion reactor. If it works, ITER will transform fusion power from being the stuff of dreams into a viable energy source.
Constructing a nuclear fusion reactor ITER will be a tokamak reactor – thought to be the best hope for fusion power. Inside a tokamak, a gas, often a hydrogen isotope called deuterium, is subjected to intense heat and pressure, forcing electrons out of the atoms. This creates a plasma – a superheated, ionised gas – that has to be contained by intense magnetic fields.
The containment is vital, as no material on Earth could withstand the intense heat (100,000,000°C and above) that the plasma has to reach so that fusion can begin. It’s close to 10 times the heat at the Sun’s core, and temperatures like that are needed in a tokamak because the gravitational pressure within the Sun can’t be recreated.
When atomic nuclei do start to fuse, vast amounts of energy are released. While the experimental reactors currently in operation release that energy as heat, in a fusion reactor power plant, the heat would be used to produce steam that would drive turbines to generate electricity, even as some envision nuclear beyond electricity for industrial heat and fuels.
Tokamaks aren’t the only fusion reactors being tried. Another type of reactor uses lasers to heat and compress a hydrogen fuel to initiate fusion. In August 2021, one such device at the National Ignition Facility, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, generated 1.35 megajoules of energy. This record-breaking figure brings fusion power a step closer to net energy gain, but most hopes are still pinned on tokamak reactors rather than lasers.
In June 2021, China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor maintained a plasma for 101 seconds at 120,000,000°C. Before that, the record was 20 seconds. Ultimately, a fusion reactor would need to sustain the plasma indefinitely – or at least for eight-hour ‘pulses’ during periods of peak electricity demand.
A real game-changer for tokamaks has been the magnets used to produce the magnetic field. “We know how to make magnets that generate a very high magnetic field from copper or other kinds of metal, but you would pay a fortune for the electricity. It wouldn’t be a net energy gain from the plant,” says Luce.
One route for nuclear fusion is to use atoms of deuterium and tritium, both isotopes of hydrogen. They fuse under incredible heat and pressure, and the resulting products release energy as heat
The solution is to use high-temperature, superconducting magnets made from superconducting wire, or ‘tape’, that has no electrical resistance. These magnets can create intense magnetic fields and don’t lose energy as heat.
“High temperature superconductivity has been known about for 35 years. But the manufacturing capability to make tape in the lengths that would be required to make a reasonable fusion coil has just recently been developed,” says Luce. One of ITER’s magnets, the central solenoid, will produce a field of 13 tesla – 280,000 times Earth’s magnetic field.
The inner walls of ITER’s vacuum vessel, where the fusion will occur, will be lined with beryllium, a metal that won’t contaminate the plasma much if they touch. At the bottom is the divertor that will keep the temperature inside the reactor under control.
“The heat load on the divertor can be as large as in a rocket nozzle,” says Luce. “Rocket nozzles work because you can get into orbit within minutes and in space it’s really cold.” In a fusion reactor, a divertor would need to withstand this heat indefinitely and at ITER they’ll be testing one made out of tungsten.
Meanwhile, in the US, the National Spherical Torus Experiment – Upgrade (NSTX-U) fusion reactor will be fired up in the autumn of 2022, while efforts in advanced fission such as a mini-reactor design are also progressing. One of its priorities will be to see whether lining the reactor with lithium helps to keep the plasma stable.
Choosing a fuel Instead of just using deuterium as the fusion fuel, ITER will use deuterium mixed with tritium, another hydrogen isotope. The deuterium-tritium blend offers the best chance of getting significantly more power out than is put in. Proponents of fusion power say one reason the technology is safe is that the fuel needs to be constantly fed into the reactor to keep fusion happening, making a runaway reaction impossible.
Deuterium can be extracted from seawater, so there’s a virtually limitless supply of it. But only 20kg of tritium are thought to exist worldwide, so fusion power plants will have to produce it (ITER will develop technology to ‘breed’ tritium). While some radioactive waste will be produced in a fusion plant, it’ll have a lifetime of around 100 years, rather than the thousands of years from fission.
At the time of writing in September, researchers at the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion reactor in Oxfordshire were due to start their deuterium-tritium fusion reactions. “JET will help ITER prepare a choice of machine parameters to optimise the fusion power,” says Dr Joelle Mailloux, one of the scientific programme leaders at JET. These parameters will include finding the best combination of deuterium and tritium, and establishing how the current is increased in the magnets before fusion starts.
The groundwork laid down at JET should accelerate ITER’s efforts to accomplish net energy gain. ITER will produce ‘first plasma’ in December 2025 and be cranked up to full power over the following decade. Its plasma temperature will reach 150,000,000°C and its target is to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for every 50 megawatts of input heating power.
“If ITER is successful, it’ll eliminate most, if not all, doubts about the science and liberate money for technology development,” says Luce. That technology development will be demonstration fusion power plants that actually produce electricity, where advanced reactors can build on decades of expertise. “ITER is opening the door and saying, yeah, this works – the science is there.”
Canada Clean Electricity Regulations allow flexible, technology-neutral pathways to a 2035 net-zero grid, permitting limited natural gas with carbon capture, strict emissions standards, and exemptions for emergencies and peak demand across provinces and territories.
Key Points
Federal draft rules for a 2035 net-zero grid, allowing limited gas with CCS under strict performance and compliance standards.
✅ Performance cap: 30 tCO2 per GWh annually for gas plants
✅ CCS must sequester 95% of emissions to comply
✅ Emergency and peak demand exemptions permitted
After facing pushback from Alberta and Saskatchewan, and amid looming power challenges nationwide, Canada's draft net-zero electricity regulations — released today — will permit some natural gas power generation.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault released Ottawa's proposed Clean Electricity Regulations on Thursday.
Provinces and territories will have a minimum 75-day window to comment on the draft regulations. The final rules are intended to pave the way to a net-zero power grid in Canada, aligning with 2035 clean electricity goals established nationally.
Calling the regulations "technology neutral," Guilbeault said the federal government believes there's enough flexibility to accommodate the different energy needs of Canada's diverse provinces and territories, including how Ontario is embracing clean power in its planning.
"What we're talking about is not a fossil fuel-free grid by 2035; it's a net zero grid by 2035," Guilbeault said.
"We understand there will be some fossil fuels remaining … but we're working to minimize those, and the fossil fuels that will be used in 2035 will have to comply with rigorous environmental and emission standards," he added.
Some analysts argue that scrapping coal-fired electricity can be costly and ineffective, underscoring the trade-offs in transition planning.
While non-emitting sources of electricity — hydroelectricity, wind and solar and nuclear — should not have any issues complying with the regulations, natural gas plants will have to meet specific criteria.
Those operations, the government said, will need to emit the equivalent of 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide per gigawatt hour or less annually to help balance demand and emissions across the grid.
Federal officials said existing natural gas power plants could comply with that performance standard with the help of carbon capture and storage systems, which would be required to sequester 95 per cent of their emissions.
"In other words, it's achievable, and it is achievable by existing technology," said a government official speaking to reporters Thursday on background and not for attribution.
The regulations will also allow a certain level of natural gas power production without the need to capture emissions. Capturing emissions will be exempted during emergencies and peak periods when renewables cannot keep up with demand.
Some newer plants might not have to comply with the rules until the 2040s, because the regulations apply to plants 20 years after they are commissioned, which dovetails with net-zero by 2050 commitments from electricity associations.
The two-decade grace period does not apply to plants that open after the regulations are expected to be finalized in 2025.
NB Power Smart Meters will replace aging analog meters, boosting billing accuracy, reducing leakage, and modernizing distribution as the EUB considers a $92 million rollout of 360,000 advanced meters for residential and commercial customers.
Key Points
NB Power Smart Meters replace analog meters, improving billing accuracy and reducing leakage in the electricity network.
✅ EUB reviewing $92M plan for 360,000 advanced meters
✅ Replaces 98,000 analog units; curbs unbilled kWh
✅ Improves billing accuracy and reduces system leakage
Home and business owners with old power meters in New Brunswick have been getting the equivalent of up to 10 days worth of electricity a year or more for free, a multi million dollar perk that will end quickly if the Energy and Utilities Board approves the adoption of smart meters, a move that in other provinces has prompted refusal fees for some holdouts.
Last week the EUB began deliberations over whether to allow NB Power to purchase and install 360,000 new generation smart meters for its residential and commercial customers as part of a $92 million upgrade of its distribution system, even as regulators elsewhere approve major rate changes that affect customer bills.
If approved, that will spell the end to about 98,000 aging electromagnetic or analog meters still used by about one quarter of NB Power customers. Those are the kind with a horizontal spinning silver disc and clock-face style dials that record consumption
NB Power lawyer John Furey told the energy and utilities board last week that the utility suspects it loses several million dollars a year to electricity consumed by customers that is not properly recorded by their old meters. It was a central issue in Furey's argument for smart meters amid broader debates over industrial subsidies and debt. (Roger Cosman/CBC) The analog units, some more than 50 years old and installed back when the late Louis Robichaud and Richard Hatfield were premiers in the 1960's and 1970's - are suspected of doling out millions of kilowatt hours of free power to customers by failing to register all of the current that moves through them.
"Over time, analog meters slow down and they register lower consumption of electricity than is actually occurring," said NB Power lawyer John Furey last week about the widespread freeloading of power in New Brunswick caused by the old meters.
3 per cent missed A 2010 report by the independent non-profit Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, California and entered into evidence during NB Power's smart meter hearing said old spinning disc meters generally degrade over time and after 20 years typically fail to register nearly 3 per cent of the power that flows through them.
The average age of analog meters in New Brunswick is much older than that - 31 years - and more than 11,000 of the units are over the age of 40.
"Worn gears, corrosion, moisture, dust, and insects can all cause drag and result in an electromagnetic meter that does not capture the full consumption of the premises," said the report.
The sudden correction to full accounting and billing could naturally surprise these homeowners and even trigger consumer backlash in some cases
- Electric Power Research Institute report About 94,000 NB residential customers and 3,900 commercial customers have an old meter, according to NB Power records. The group would receive about 40 million kilowatt hours of electricity for free this year ($5.1 million worth including HST) if the average unit failed to register 2 percent of the electricity flowing through it, while elsewhere some customers are receiving lump-sum credits on electricity bills.
That is about $41 in free power for the average residential customer and $322 for the average business.
But, according to the research, there would also be hundreds of customers with meters that have slowed considerably more than the average with 0.3 percent - or close to 300 in NB Power's case - not counting between 10 and 20 percent of the electricity customers are using.
NB Power senior Vice President Lori Clark told the EUB stopping the freeloading of power in New Brunswick caused by older meters is in everyone's interest. (Roger Cosman/CBC) That's potentially $400 in free electricity in a year for a residential customer with average consumption.
"While the average meter might be only slightly slow a few could be significantly so," said the report.
"The sudden correction to full accounting and billing could naturally surprise these homeowners and result in questioning of a new meter, as seen in a shocking $666 bill reported by a Nova Scotia senior."
The report made the point analog meters can also run fast but called that "less common" meaning that if the EUB approves smart meters, tens of thousands of customers who lose an old meter to a new accurate model will experience higher bills.
'Leakage' reduction NB Power acknowledges it does not know precisely how much power its older meters give away but said whether it is a little or a lot, ending the freebies is to everyone's benefit.
"It reduces our inefficiencies, reduces our leakage that we have in the system, so that we are picking up those unbilled kilowatt hours," said NB Power senior vice president Lori Clark about ending the free power many customers unknowingly enjoy.
Smart meter critics change tone on NB Power's new business case NB Power's smart meter plan gets major boost with critical endorsements "Customers benefit from reduced inefficiencies in our system. They benefit from reduced leakage in our system and the fact that those kilowatt hours are being properly billed to the customers that have consumed the kilowatt hours."
NB Power hopes to win approval of its plan to acquire smart meters by this spring to allow installation beginning in mid 2021, even as some utilities elsewhere have backed away from smart home network projects.
✅ Control rooms protected; backup sites and cross-trained staff
✅ Mutual aid and Ofgem coordination bolster grid resilience
National Grid ESO is predicting a reduction in electricity demand, consistent with residential use trends observed during the pandemic, in the case of the coronavirus spread prompting a lockdown across the country.
Its analysis shows the reduction in commercial and industrial use would outweigh an upsurge in domestic demand, mirroring Ontario demand data seen as people stayed home, according to similar analyses.
The prediction was included in an update from the Energy Networks Association (ENA), in which it sought to reassure the public that contingency plans are in place, reflecting utility disaster planning across electric and gas networks, to ensure services are unaffected by the coronavirus spread.
The body, which represents the UK's electricity and gas network companies, said "robust measures" had been put in place to protect control rooms and contact centres, similar to staff lockdown protocols considered by other system operators, to maintain resilience. To provide additional resilience, engineers have been trained across multiple disciplines and backup centres exist should operations need to be moved if, for example, deep cleaning is required, the ENA said.
Networks also have industry-wide mutual aid arrangements, similar to grid response measures outlined in the U.S., for people and the equipment needed to keep gas and electricity flowing.
ENA chief executive, David Smith, said, echoing system reliability assurances from other markets: "The UK's electricity and gas network is one of the most reliable in the world and network operators are working with the authorities to ensure that their contingency plans are reviewed and delivered in accordance with the latest expert advice. We are following this advice closely and reassuring customers that energy networks are continuing to operate as normal for the public."
Utility Week spoke to a senior figure at one of the networks who reiterated the robust measures in place to keep the lights on, even as grid alerts elsewhere highlight the importance of contingency planning. However, they pleaded for more clarity from Ofgem and government on how its workers will be treated if the coronavirus spread becomes a pandemic in the UK.
Hydro One-Avista Merger outlines a utility acquisition shaped by Washington regulators, Colstrip coal plant depreciation, and plans for renewables, clean energy, and emissions cuts, while Montana reviews implications for jobs, ratepayers, and a 2027 closure.
Key Points
A utility deal setting Colstrip depreciation and renewables, without committing to an early coal plant closure.
✅ Washington sets 2027 depreciation for Colstrip units
✅ Montana reviews jobs, ratepayer impacts, community fund
✅ Avista seeks renewables; no binding shutdown commitment
The Washington power company Hydro One is buying will be ready to close its huge coal-fired generating station ahead of schedule, thanks to conditions put on the corporate merger by state regulators there.
Not that we actually plan to do that, the company is telling other regulators in Montana, where coal unit retirements are under debate, the huge coal-fired generating station in question employs hundreds of people. We’ll be in the coal business for a good long time yet.
Hydro One, in which the Ontario government now owns a big minority stake, is still working on its purchase of Avista, a private power utility based in Spokane. The $6.7-billion deal, which Hydro One announced in July, includes a 15 per cent share in two of the four generating units in a coal plant in Colstrip, Montana, one of the biggest in the western United States. Avista gets most of its electricity from hydro dams and gas but uses the Colstrip plant when demand for power is high and water levels at its dams are low.
#google#
Colstrip’s a town of fewer than 2,500 people whose industries are the power plant and the open-pit mines that feed it about 10 million tonnes of coal a year. Two of Colstrip’s generators, older ones Avista doesn’t have any stake in, are closing in 2022. The other two will be all that keep the town in business.
In Washington, they don’t like the coal plant and its pollution. In Montana, the future of Colstrip is a much bigger concern. The companies have to satisfy regulators in both places that letting Hydro One buy Avista is in the public interest.
Ontario proudly closed the last of our coal plants in 2014 and outlawed new ones as environmental menaces, and Alberta's coal phase-out is now slated to finish by 2023. When Hydro One said it was buying Avista, which makes about $100 million in profit a year, Premier Kathleen Wynne said she hoped Ontario’s “value system” would spread to Avista’s operations.
The settlement is “an important step towards bringing together two historic companies,” Hydro One’s chief executive Mayo Schmidt said in announcing it.
The deal has approval from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission staff but is subject to a vote by the group’s three commissioners. It doesn’t commit Avista to closing anything at Colstrip or selling its share. But Avista and Hydro One will budget as if the Colstrip coal burners will close in 2027, instead of running into the 2040s as their owners had once planned, a timeline that echoes debates over the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico.
In accounting terms, they’ll depreciate the value of their share of the plant to zero over the next nine years, reflecting what they say is the end of the plant’s “useful life.” Another of Colstrip’s owners, Puget Sound Energy, has previously agreed with Washington regulators that it’ll budget for a Colstrip closure in 2027 as well.
Avista and Hydro One will look for sources of 50 megawatts of renewable electricity, including independent power projects where feasible, in the next four years and another 90 megawatts to supplement Avista’s supply once the Colstrip plant eventually closes, they promise in Washington. They’ll put $3 million into a “community transition fund” for Colstrip.
The money will come from the companies’ profits and cash, the agreement says. “Hydro One will not seek cost recovery for such funds from ratepayers in Ontario,” it says specifically.
“Ontario has always been a global leader in the transition away from dirty coal power and towards clean energy,” said Doug Howell, an anti-coal campaigner with the Sierra Club, which is a party to the agreement. “This settlement continues that tradition, paving the way for the closure of the largest single source of climate pollution in the American West by 2027, if not earlier.”
Montanans aren’t as thrilled. That state has its own public services commission, doing its own examination of the corporate merger, which has asked Hydro One and Avista to explain in detail why they want to write off the value of the Colstrip burners early. The City of Colstrip has filed a petition saying it wants in on Montana hearings because “the potential closure of (Avista’s units) would be devastating to our community.”
Don’t get too worked up, an Avista vice-president urged the Montana commission just before Easter.
“Just because an asset is depreciated does not mean that one would otherwise remove that asset from service if the asset is still performing as intended,” Jason Thackston testified in a session that dealt only with what the deal with Washington state would mean to Colstrip. We’re talking strictly about an accounting manoeuvre, not an operational commitment.
Six joint owners will have to agree to close the Colstrip generators and there’s “no other tacit understanding or unstated agreement” to do that, he said.
Besides Washington and Montana, state regulators in Idaho, including those overseeing the Idaho Power settlement process, Alaska and Oregon and multiple federal authorities have to sign off on the deal before it can happen. Hydro One hopes it’ll be done in the second half of this year.
California Heat Wave Grid Emergency sees CAISO issue Stage 3 alerts as record demand, extreme heat, and climate change strain renewable energy; conservation efforts avert rolling blackouts and protect grid reliability statewide.
Key Points
A grid emergency in California's heat wave, with CAISO Stage 3 alerts amid record demand and risk of rolling blackouts.
✅ CAISO triggered Stage 3 alerts, then downgraded by 8 pm PT
✅ Record 52,061 MW demand; conservation reduced grid stress
✅ Extreme heat and climate change heightened outage risks
California has avoided ordering rolling blackouts after electricity demand reached a record-high Tuesday night from excessive heat across the state, even as energy experts warn the U.S. grid faces mounting climate stresses.
The California Independent System Operator, which oversees the state’s electrical grid, imposed its highest level energy emergency on Tuesday, a step that comes before ordering rolling blackouts and allows the state to access emergency power sources.
The Office of Emergency Services also sent a text alert to residents requesting them to conserve power. The operator downgraded the Stage 3 alert around 8:00 p.m. PT on Tuesday and said that “consumer conservation played a big part in protecting electric grid reliability,” and in bolstering grid resilience overall.
The state capital of Sacramento reached 116 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service, surpassing a record that was set almost 100 years ago. And nearly a half-dozen cities in the San Francisco Bay Area tied or set all-time highs, the agency said.
CAISO said peak power demand on Tuesday reached 52,061 megawatts, surpassing a previous high of 50,270 megawatts on July 24, 2006, while nearby B.C. electricity demand has also hit records during extreme weather.
While the operator did not order rolling blackouts, three Northern California cities saw brief power outages, and severe storms have caused similar disruptions statewide in recent months. As of 7:00 am PT on Wednesday, nearly 8,000 customers in California were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a Twitter video on Tuesday, warned the temperatures across California were unprecedented and the state is headed into the worst part of the heat wave, which is on track to be the hottest and longest on record for September.
“The risk for outages is real and it’s immediate,” Newsom said. “These triple-digit temperatures throughout much of the state are leading, not surprisingly, to record demand on the energy grid.”
The governor urged residents to pre-cool their homes earlier in the day when more power is available and turn thermostats to 78 degrees or higher after 4:00 pm PT. “Everyone has to do their part to help step up for just a few more days,” Newsom said.
The possibility for widespread outages reflects how power grids in California and other states are becoming more vulnerable to climate-related disasters such as heat waves, storms and wildfires across California.
California, which has set a goal to transition to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045, has shuttered a slew of gas power plants in the past few years, leaving the state increasingly dependent on solar energy.
At times, the state has produced a clean energy surplus during peak solar generation, underscoring the challenges of balancing supply and demand.
The megadrought in the American West has generated the driest two decades in the region in at least 1,200 years, and human-caused climate change has fueled the problem, scientists said earlier this year. Conditions will likely continue through 2022 and persist for years.
