Report Tallies the Damages of California's Drought

Electricity costs in California have risen more than $2 billion from October 2011 to September 2015, according to a new report studying the effects of California's historic drought.

1 minute read

February 17, 2016, 2:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell

sddatta / Shutterstock

"A new report shows reduced hydroelectricity generation, due to the drought in California, has increased costs to electric ratepayers and increased greenhouse gas pollution," reports Ed Joyce.

The report showed that electricity generation from hydropower dropped to 7 percent statewide in 2015. In a normal water year, according to Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute and the report’s author, that total reaches 15 to 18 percent. According to the article, "the additional combustion of fossil fuels for electric generation also led to a 10 percent increase in the release of carbon dioxide from California power plants."

The article includes more insight into the report's projections for the future as well (spoiler: it doesn’t look good).

FULL STORY: Study: California Drought Means Less Hydropower, More CO2 Pollution

Wednesday, February 10, 2016 in KPBS

Energy Environment California California Drought Hydroelectric Carbon Emissions Electricity Generation Bills View More

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