A ruling this week from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) just goes to show how entrenched gas is in the US, and how tough it is to surge ahead in renewables. The board has offered to endorse a 3.3 GW acquisition of fresh clean energy by the end of 2023, but is phrasing it as the reply to a perceived shortfall of local energy beginning in 2021 – in essence the concession to renewables is being used as an excuse to extend the life of a number of CCGT gas turbines, including a couple more from outside the procurement area, which import energy to California, to the extent of just under 5 GW. These extensions are being sold as necessary…