California's $15.7 billion power problem

The Golden State has, of late, lost considerable luster, what with prison riots, budget problems, and massive wildfires started by Mexican drug cartels. Add to these woes a whopping price tag for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious renewable energy program. The Guvernator's plan has California grabbing 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

Getting the power capacity in place might actually be the easy part. Federal subsidies and plunging prices of solar cell and wind power equipment make that part easy. Instead, it's getting the needed power lines in place that will likely provide the biggest obstacle. An August 2009 report from the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative put the price tag at roughly $15.7 billion, according to this post by tech blog Venture Beat. Putting more power lines in place has all the sex appeal of an Al Franken skin flick so the costs could make it far more difficult hit those lofty energy goals.