【新译Y宇宙】No.50 公共电网不给力，加州人尝试自己发电

In the Gold Rush, Northern California attracted prospectors looking for financial independence. Now, this area is at the vanguard of a new movement — people seeking to use only the energy they produce themselves.

在淘金热中， 北加州吸引了寻求经济独立的探矿者。现在，这个区域正成为一场新运动的先锋——人们只想利用他们自己生产的能源。

Angry over blackouts, wildfires caused by utilities and rising electricity bills, a small but growing number of Californians in rural areas and in the suburbs of San Francisco are going off the grid. They can do so because of a stunning drop in the cost of solar panels and batteries over the past decade. Some homeowners who have built new, off-grid homes say they have even saved money because their systems were cheaper than securing a new utility connection.

由于对停电、电力公司引起的野火以及不断上涨的电费感到愤怒，在农村地区和旧金山郊区的加州人正在脱离电网，这一人数虽少，但还在不断增加。他们之所以能做到这一点，是因为过去十年来太阳能电池板和电池成本的急剧下降。一些建造了新的离网住宅的房主说，他们甚至节省了资金，因为他们的系统比连接新的公用设施更便宜。

People going off the grid argue that utilities are not moving fast enough to address climate change and are causing other problems. In Northern California, Pacific Gas & Electric's equipment caused the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed dozens and destroyed the town of Paradise. The utility's effort to prevent fires by cutting off power to homes and businesses has also angered people.

脱离电网的人认为，电力公司的发展速度不足以应对气候变化，并正在引发其他问题。在北加州，太平洋燃气和电气的设备导致了2018年营火，造成数十人死亡，并摧毁了天堂小镇。电力公司通过切断家庭和企业的供电来防止火灾的行为也激怒了人们。

Nobody is quite sure how many off-grid homes there are, but local officials and real estate agents said there were dozens here in Nevada County. Some energy experts say that millions of people could eventually go off the grid as costs drop.

没有人非常确定有多少非电网住宅，但当地官员和房地产经纪人说，在内华达县有几十座。一些能源专家说，随着成本的下降，数百万人最终可能会脱离电网。

"People want to have that self-reliance, there's very little reason not to do it if you have the means to make the investment now." said Diane Vukovic, who has researched the laws and regulations about going off the grid.

“人们希望自力更生，如果你现在有办法进行投资，那么没有理由不这样做。” 研究有关离网的法律法规的黛安·武科维奇说。

单词本

utility 公共事业

grid 输电网

prospector 勘探者

prospector 先锋

blackout 停电

文章来源 | World News Era

(March 13, 2022)

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