written 7 September, 2025
published 14 September, 2025
Commercial electrical power production began in 1882. The basic structure remains the same today. Power is produced in a few central locations, mostly generated by falling water or combustion of finite resources, then shipped over a transmission grid, and distributed to local loads. The electrical grid is now the largest man-made structure, central to most all of life and commerce. But the situation is being challenged to change.
Those who understand the climate crisis is real know we have to stop adding any more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere: decarbonizing the economy. This will require about 3 times more electricity to replace all fossil fuel usage. Additionally, power demand has increased with the sharp rise in data centers, AI, and crypto currency, with some estimates projecting another factor of 3 increase in power consumed.
At the same time, the global supply of fossil fuels has been diminished by centuries of extraction. All the cheapest reserves are already depleted. While plenty still exists, it is more costly to extract every year, reflected in constantly rising energy bills. We currently live at a tipping point, where the cost to produce these fuels is becoming greater than the economy can support.
Furthermore, the grid we have today is aging out, barely able to handle normal loads, let alone the massive increases coming. As the climate heats up, summer air conditioning loads threaten to crash the system. Environmental threats from fires and storms are increasing, making power reliability more precarious. Expansion of the grid is expensive and time consuming, making electrical availability more problematic.
However, power production technologies have evolved, no longer limited to resource extraction. Grid scale power can be collected from the sun and wind and the power stored until needed. This can be large centralized grid scale systems, or smaller, more distributed installations, located closer to where the power is consumed, reducing transmission congestion.
Whether driven by climate reality, economics, or rapidly expanding power demand, a future based on renewable energy is no longer just possible: it is inevitable, despite the foolish federal denial. Just as coal, steam power, and railways defined the 19th century, and oil, steel, and mass production defined the 20th century, so too will renewables and electrification define the 21st century. The question is how fast will it occur, and which nations or communities will lead. Now is the opportunity to embrace a fundamental transformation of the power system.
But the political, economic, and regulatory structures that grew along with the traditional power system still function, controlling what happens on the ground. As with many systems, these are designed to protect the status quo and the centralized money structure that constrains everything.
In our area, electrical power is controlled by PG&E, the largest utility in the state, and the California Public Utility Commission (PUC), which sets the rules for connection and operation. In the 1990's, California deregulated the electricity market, allowing anyone to build power plants, in part due to rising solar generating capacities. PG&E mostly left the power production business, keeping a few generation resources, but retained ownership of the transmission and distribution systems. Through its economic might, PG&E dominates the PUC.
What this means in practice is that nobody can connect to the power system, either to produce power or use power, without permission from PG&E. Nobody can share power across property lines, without permission from PG&E. However, there are a few very specific exceptions where PG&E permission is NOT required.
On your own home or business, behind a single power meter connection to the larger grid, you can install solar arrays and storage, as long as you never push power back out onto the system. Tribal entities have dominion over their reservations, and can install and operate their own power systems. Communities with municipal power systems can install and operate power systems within their defined territory. In Mendocino County, only Ukiah has its own power utility, creating a unique opportunity.
The power system of the future will be communities with local power resilience. By producing some power locally, dependance on the grid is reduced, maximizing utilization of our existing infrastructure. Storing power locally allows cheaper power to supplant expensive evening power, increasing economic efficiency. Building resilience throughout the power system insures against debilitating consequences from grid unreliability, because some power is better than no power in an emergency.
The City of Ukiah can explore these possibilities. Let's become leaders.
