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-snip- ... Instead the state seems to be focused on decentralizing the grid as much as possible, by mandating rooftop solar on all new construction (effective Jan 2020) and heavily incentivizing local energy storage--even though in the long term this will push the utilities only further into the red. That being said, we jumped on this bandwagon for our home and frankly, it's been quite amazing--our bills have dropped to a fraction of what they were before, and we've easily ridden out the blackouts. It's made me a believer in batteries or generators (depending on the home).
I'm not disagreeing with you, I just want to clarify what you are saying for other readers. When you refer to panels on roofs of individual homes and local energy storage, are you describing something different than the conventional set up? Incentives are mandated for homeowner installation, those panels collect sun energy and it flows into the grid, literally making the meter run backwards, but the panels are not a back up in the event of a power failure of grid supplied power.
I'm assuming you are saying California is incentivizing both localized storage of panel flow from private homes into nearby commercial grade mega-lithium batteries, rather than to battery storage on the premises of individual homes with roof panels. The cost and number of competitively priced home panel battery storage arrays seems impractical to any load level beyond emergency LED lighting for a 12 hour grid supply interruption, or longer except in remote areas where grid supply is unavailable. Individual backup generators seem less expensive and fairly seamless if you expect a similar experience to grid power as far as powering major appliances and central heating and cooling.
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