California, in case you haven’t noticed, has enjoyed a hotter than normal summer.

And even though PG&E may have siphoned every last dime in your pocket to do so, there have not been rolling blackouts.

You can thank some of your neighbors.

They’re the ones working in Lathrop assembling Tesla megapack lithium-ion battery storage units.

Each storage pack that is the size of a shipping container allows the storage of up to 3.9 megawatts of electricity regardless of how it is generated.

Depending upon who is doing the calculating, one megawatt of power can supply electricity for between 200 and 670 homes a year.

Assuming the real number is around 500, one megapack can power 2,000 homes for a year.

Given the battery storage is to bridge gaps on power generation and power demand, it is safe to assume the megapacks Elon Musk and Tesla launched in 2019 have been the linchpin of California’s ability to keep the lights — and air conditioning units — on this summer.

The nation’s power grid has been taxed this summer by demand versus supply — natural disasters and wildfires aside — it has weathered the heat.

Do not misunderstand.

There were close calls, but all-in-all there were no rolling blackouts such as California experienced in 2020 and Texas in 2021.

That was despite regional demand in the western United States reaching a record 168,000 megawatts on July 10.

In previous heat waves, California has to import electricity from other states.

This time around, it was the Golden State that was exporting power to other states according to the California Independent System Operator that manages power loads throughout the state.

Some of that has to do with conservation measure incentives during peak demand periods as well as compliance to alerts to taper electricity use as loads get dangerously close to triggering rolling blackouts.

Some of it has to do with the easing of drought conditions that has brought hydroelectric production back up.

Some of it has to do with more solar and wind power going on line but with an asterisk.

But the biggest game changer has been battery storage.

That’s where part of the asterisk comes in.

Solar and wind do not generate power 24/7.

One is only good when there is sunlight.

The other needs wind to be blowing not too slow nor not too fast, if there is a wind at all.

The other part of the asterisk is solar and wind hasn’t really replaced natural gas.

Take out natural gas plants still operating as well as Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant that generates just under 50 percent of the electricity PG&E’s 16 million customers use over the course of the year, stock in candle manufacturers would soar.

The danger of prematurely unplugging fossil fuel power sources can’t be stressed enough when it comes to generating electricity.

New technologies such as crypto currency and artificial intelligence are the mother-of-all energy hogs.

Not even 10 percent of all cars in California are now powered by electricity.

The state also wants to get rid of natural gas that provides a large chunk of household energy.

Initiatives such as high speed rail will create even more demand.

Fortunately, by the time California High Speed Rail gets up and running, either every household will have their own nuclear fusion plant or the last drop of oil will have been squeezed out of the earth.

It is why you can argue battery storage used by utilities is the real foundation of the shift of California’s power fortunes.

Clearly, we’re far from being out of the woods.

That is why we can’t lose sight of the fact it is trailblazers and entrepreneurs that ultimately will change our energy supply system to the point it is a list devoid of fossil fuels that clearly have a limited life expectancy.

Politicians issuing decrees or passing laws aren’t what will make the world greener.

Nor will it be the Leonardo DiCaprios jetting around the world yakking about it or the Greta Thunbergs protesting.

It won’t even be bureaucrats that have a reptilian reflex to wrap everything as tight as possible in red tape then punch out at 5 o’clock.

Those that devise the technology, those that take the entrepreneurial risk, and those that supply the labor from the start to the end of the supply chain are the ones that make it work and happen.

The work being done in Lathrop by Tesla workers since 2019 in the megapack assembly facility in space that once housed a JC Penney distribution center has been pivotal in helping California balance its power needs versus supply.

The Lathrop facility is the largest such plant in the world.

It has the capacity to produce 13,000 megapacks a year or the equivalent of 40 gigawatt hours of power.

By comparison, the new megafactory Tesla said in 2023 it would open in Shanghai, China, has a projected production of 10,000 megapacks a year.

It will only be a matter of time before you start seeing megapack-style installations placed in San Joaquin County.

They are three storage facilities being pursued including one in Ripon next to a PG&E substation along Highway 99 adjacent to the Flying J Truck Stop.

  This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com