From the Energy Information Administration's Today in Energy (also on blogroll at right), June 1:
Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) Supplement: Drought Effects on California Electricity Generation and Western Power Markets
As part of a supplement to our Short-Term Energy Outlook, we analyzed how drought conditions could affect hydroelectric generation in California this summer. California hydroelectric generation would be 48% less this summer in an alternative case that assumes drought conditions compared with a case that assumes relatively normal water conditions. This shortfall would need to be made up from other sources of electric power supply.
During the 2022 water year, which began October 1, 2021, snowpack reached above-normal levels in December, but dry conditions then persisted through March. As of April 1, which typically marks the peak of snowpack, California’s snowpack had an equivalent water content of 6.9 inches, which is about 40% below the median value from 1991 through 2020. Less snowpack means that, as temperatures warm in the spring, less snow will melt and flow into California’s reservoirs....
....MUCH MORE
