California off to a strong clean electricity start with solar up 33.8%

I think you're assuming that a power network with fewer connections still has the same costs, which seems wrong. The core network will have lower load and there will be fewer leaf nodes.

off grid here as well, for 15+ years though I see a different long term outcome vs/vs the grid and off grid, where the grid becomes two way, with distributed power generation at every scale. There are a lot of electricity users who dont have the roof space to meet there needs. And there will be a lot of small self suficient producers, with excess power that can be sold. Integrating the ability to push power to the grid is trivial, even at the smallest scale, where even an ambitious child could make a few bucks(safely), or in my case.....not so safely. Gaining the ability to generate income from excess power will be a huge extra motivation to install solar pv. It goes against the grain for utilities but, in certain markets there will be no where to put kilometer scale pv arrays, and in others a strong public will to have distributed power generation as the base of the grid. The main consideration for indivuals, corporations, and regulators, is maintaining a competitive electricity price compared to other countrys, so that we retain industry and jobs, while reducing our carbon impact. The current form of the grid, worked for the last 100 years, but can not compete with emerging markets that will go all in for solar and other alternative power, and will never incur the costs of fuel, and the infrastructure to deliver and burn the stuff.Solar is completely compatible with agriculture, and has no down wind dead zones, etc so true costs are much much lower. Keep in mind that a country ,such as Pakistan has taken delivery of 3 gigawatts of pv, and will now slowly but surely pull itself out of the conditions caused by perpetual power shortages, and there by become more competitive in world markets.Equitorial Africa has a fantastic solar pv capacity, and safe, cheap, high capacity batteries are on the way, NOW. We need to exploit our current competive edge and enlist the whole population in making a leap to a two way grid, or face a future where our decendents are looking over the fence to where things are.....relevant.