California's power grid is experiencing record-high demand levels, straining the grid to the brink of blackouts. Extreme heat is driving demands, which last week were projected to peak at 51,243 megawatts. Some cities did, in fact, experience deliberately ordered blackouts, despite the state's energy manager not calling them to be conducted.
"Many large cannabis growing operations in California are still using inefficient, outdated High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps," said George Mekhtarian, CEO of California Lightworks. "Switching these operations to high-efficiency LEDs is a low-hanging fruit solution that can significantly help reduce the strain on our energy grid while improving the bottom line for the growers. Utility rebate programs are available to offset part or all of the up-front cost of switching to LEDs. We urge growers to take advantage of these programs while they last."
Advanced high-efficiency LED grow lighting systems such as the California Lightworks MegaDrive are designed to reduce power consumption by 40% or more compared to the HID lights. They can be used both as the sole indoor source or supplemental greenhouse lights. "The most reliable LED solution on the market, the patented MegaDrive system also offers the lowest total installed cost and other benefits such as centralized dimming and spectrum control."
"There are many utility rebate programs available to growers in California," said Dylan Collins, CEO of Green Rebates. "Most recently, the state authorized the Market Access Program, a $150 million program to incentivize peak energy savings during the summers of 2022 and 2023. We are here to help growers take advantage of these programs and transition to high-efficiency lights at little or no total cost."
"Growers in California should act quickly to take advantage of these programs before the money runs out," said Mekhtarian. "We want to ensure that businesses understand that these funds can be used to upgrade their outdated HPS lights to advanced LED lighting systems like our MegaDrive for little or no cost."
For more information:
California Lightworks
www.californialightworks.com