By: harrywr2

Roger Sowell says:
August 10, 2012 at 5:34 am
Regarding the demand and power shortage, the State does not consider wind power reliable so gas, nuclear, and large hydroelectric are required to meet peak load.
Actually, some wind power was included in California’s 2012 On Peak Summer Analysis – It’s in Appendix D of this report –
http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Briefing_SummerLoads_ResourcesOperationsPreparednessAssessment-Report-MAR2012.pdf
The problem with the formula is that there isn’t good data on large blocking highs since they tend to be infrequent.
California is lucky the Pacific Northwest Reservoir levels are high, because we don’t have any wind either but we still have plenty of hydro to spare.