California to Rely on Natural Gas This Winter to Power Homes

California is expected to rely on natural gas for power generation for this winter. Recent wildfires and droughts have led to depletion of resources and created more challenges for generating power. The state of Texas and California have come across electricity problems and grid issues due to global power crunches. Many countries are now back to increasing coal and fossil fuel production to help power their cities and keep lights on.

Extreme droughts has led to decrease in electricity generated by hydroelectricity as it increased the risk of wildfires, pushing focus towards gas-fired power plants. California state regulators will be increasing dependence on gas and is considering proposals from Aliso Canyon facility.

On Thursday, the State’s Public Utilities Commission PUC voted to boost storage at the Los Angeles-area facility where capacity for limited to 34 billion cubic feet after a devastating leak back in 2015. Gas prices has also went up across the world due to higher demand and shortages. According to the Martha Guzman Aceves, PUC Commissioner, California will be able to get through the coming winter with an increase in gas supplies.

On the other hand, environmental groups are pushing to get the Aliso Canyon facility closed permanently. Alexander Nagy, California director of Food & Water Watch stated, “Instead of pursuing clean energy solutions that can eliminate the need for Aliso Canyon entirely, California is proposing to expand this dangerous facility – putting communities at greater risk of another catastrophic leak.”