Originally Posted by cerewa
Definitely a problem. I heard, though, that areas of the USA plains can produce electricity more cheaply from wind than from fossil fuels, but the trouble is that if you transported it via wires to population centers on the east and west coasts, most of the energy would be lost. There is also the problem that a lot of electricity goes unused because most electric plants can't be shut down at night and restarted when demand goes up during daytime. If hydrogen-as-fuel becomes practical, some electric companies will probably find a way to use up any excess night-time electricity turning water into oxygen and hydrogen gas.
Load leveling can often be done cheaper and easier using a flow battery flow batteries can be built on a massive scale, Wiki flow battery for the concept behind it. When power use is relatively low, you pump power into the battery, when use is high, you pump power out. The technology has been around for a quarter century at least, realistically, you might even be able to pump the electrolyte into a truck or rail car, and ship it a long distance to another battery using the same technology, pump the electrolyte out, into the second battery, where it could be used.