

General Motors: The company hopes to become a leading force in the electric vehicle industry.Charging Stations: The Biden administration unveiled proposed regulations that would require stations built with federal dollars to be located no more than 50 miles apart.Those homeowners use their systems to supplement the electricity they get from the grid, provide emergency backup power and sell excess energy to the grid.Ī Critical Year for Electric Vehicles As the overall auto market stagnates, the popularity of battery-powered cars is soaring worldwide. Savage said.įor people like him, it is not enough to take the approach favored by most homeowners with solar panels and batteries.

“I don’t think I’ll ever go back to being on the grid,” Mr. He said he never loses power, unlike PG&E customers. One of those residents is Alan Savage, a real estate agent in Grass Valley, who bought an off-grid home six years ago and has sold hundreds of such properties. The utility’s effort to prevent fires by cutting off power to homes and businesses has also angered people. The company’s equipment caused the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed dozens and destroyed the town of Paradise, about 70 miles north of Nevada City. In Northern California, Pacific Gas & Electric’s safety record has alienated many residents. People going off the grid argue that utilities are not moving fast enough to address climate change and are causing other problems. It’s become so much cheaper and easier that at this point, there’s very little reason not to do it if you have the means to make the investment now.” “It’s not just the doomsayers or the eco-hippies,” said Diane Vukovic, who has researched the laws and regulations about going off the grid for Primal Survivor, an organization that helps consumers with disaster preparedness.
