Errors of fact

Mr. Harman, unfortunately, battery storage won’t make up, or come close, to substituting the demand from natural gas sources, especially since electrical demand is only going to increase due to locales virtue signaling for all-electric. However, in regards to your letter, I’m interested in who is going to pay for these batteries in every neighborhood substation and their installs. I’m also interested in the net carbon savings (if there are any) from mining the rare earth metals and the manufacture of these batteries. More importantly, what is the return on investment for batteries and solar panel manufacturing, including hazardous waste disposal? We all know batteries won’t last forever and neither will solar panels. How would those numbers and hazardous waste compare to installing nuclear power plants in major cities (less transmission losses)? I know, less money for Tesla, but… instead of piecemeal hazardous waste, let’s go big and go nuclear. Thoughts?

It is totally incorrect to imply that roof top solar generates "energy too cheap to be worth metering". The cost of a solar system is far more on a present value basis than buying solar through PG&E. Justifying a home solar system on the basis of promises to buy back your power are worthless because when the sun shines here it shines even more on PG&E's solar panels in the valley so PG&E does't need solar power from home owners.

Solar is the most expensive power when you count the duplicate cost of providing 100% back with natural gas power plants. The current cost of a Tesla car battery is about $13,000 and the cost of backing up CA’s grid when the sun doesn't shine would be in the trillions of dollars. Form Energy’s technology is promising but no one knows went or if it’ll be available and we need reliable, affordable green energy right now. But there is a green energy solution that is ready to go and that’s to make hydrogen from solar that can be stored and used when the sun doesn't shine. It can also be burned in existing natural gas plants to provide always on power with no emissions.

Let's hope you are right but I recall from my early days in Connecticut that when a nuclear plant was coming on line that electricity would be abundant and cheap. I worked for an electrical outfit then that installed electric baseboard heating based on projected energy costs. That became a nightmare as the plant eventually shut down leaving the homes with unaffordable heating costs. When you say "and a kilowatt-hour is too cheap to be worth metering" market forces will overcome that as the past has shown. Meanwhile, when electricity is being generated on site, customers have a habit of installing more electricity powered appliances and other equipment, negating the economic advantages.

And Mr. Harman, the reason for the natural gas shortage was lack of electricity for the pumping systems. There was plenty of natural gas. I also recall seeing pictures of windmills with frozen wings that were iced over preventing them from turning. Tesla's systems definitely have a major role to play in our energy future but you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.