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I wonder if it would be a possibility to relay electricity across the US with large battery stations from big solar farms, or if the loss in transit + the expense of the batteries would make something like that intractable.

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So Cal has Sunrise Power Link which is high voltage transmission lines specifically designed to bring in power from the solar and wind farms in the desert. The proliferation of solar farms in the desert is a clear indicator of how that has gone.

Growing up in San Diego I hilariously remember environmentalists protesting the Sunrise Power Link. The reason given by my high school classmates who were involved in the protesting was that it threatened some desert tortoise's habitat or something like that. There were also some NIMBY types protesting the transmission lines.

From the gas and oil companies' perspective, with enemies like these, who needs friends?

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