A huge California hydropower plant shuts down due to drought

Published

3 years ago

August 6, 2021

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The Edward Hyatt hydroelectric power plant at Lake Oroville, California, was shut down yesterday for the first time since it opened in 1967 because of low water levels due to drought. Lake Oroville is California’s second-largest reservoir.

When it’s working, the Hyatt, the fourth-largest hydropower plant in the state, is able to generate up to 750 megawatts of electricity, which is enough power for around 500,000 homes, although it usually generates around 400 megawatts.

But Lake Oroville (pictured above) is currently only 24% full, or 34% of the historical average for August 5.

Justin Sullivan, a Getty photojournalist, tweeted on July 22:

Lake Oroville is shrinking as the #drought emergency worsens in #California. In three months the lake has dropped from 42% of capacity on April 27, 2021 to 28% today, July 22, 2021. Water levels are 243 feet below full pool of 900. pic.twitter.com/ooS7VFxZNB

— Justin Sullivan (@sullyfoto) July 23, 2021

(If you scroll through Justin Sullivan’s Twitter feed, you’ll see a lot of excellent yet disheartening photos of how the drought is affecting the American West.)

Drought conditions in California have reduced hydropower capacity by approximately 1,000 megawatts overall due to depleted reservoirs, according to a June 29 letter from the heads of the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission to the head of the California Independent System Operator.

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) director Karla Nemeth released the following statement yesterday:

DWR State Water Project operations managers have taken the Hyatt Powerplant at Lake Oroville offline due to falling lake levels. This is the first time Hyatt Powerplant has gone offline as a result of low lake levels. However, DWR anticipated this moment, and the state has planned for its loss in both water and grid management…

…This is just one of many unprecedented impacts we are experiencing in California as a result of our climate-induced drought. California and much of the western part of the United States are experiencing the impacts of accelerated climate change including record-low reservoir levels due to dramatically reduced runoff this spring.

California usually sources around 15% of its electricity from hydropower.

The DWR is calling on California residents to reduce water use by 15% but doesn’t indicate in its statement how that reduction should be quantified.

Photo: “Lake Oroville, After” by Dan Brekke is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

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Entertainment

Richard Osman reveals Thursday Murder Club cast – including ex James Bond

Published

3 hours ago

April 23, 2024

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Richard Osman reveals Thursday Murder Club cast - including ex James Bond

Richard Osman has revealed three out of four of the lead characters for the forthcoming big screen adaptation of The Thursday Murder Club.

Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley will take on the roles of Elizabeth Best, Ron Ritchie and Ibrahim Arif respectively.

The Pointless host shared the names of the key cast members on his bi-weekly podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, which he presents with journalist Marina Hyde.

Chris Columbus – the man behind Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire and two Harry Potter movies – is set to write and direct the film, which is being produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.

The movie is based on Osman’s debut novel of the same name which follows a group of friends in a retirement home who solve cold cases for fun, but become entangled in a real murder.

It is set in a retirement home Cooper’s Chase, in the fictitious village of Fairhaven in Kent.

Osman said the production will take place from “the end of June to September” in the UK.

The fourth main character, a retired nurse called Joyce Meadowcroft, has not yet been confirmed.

Osman hinted at the casting, saying: “Joyce, we’re still in negotiations but again the name is the one that people most shout at me in the street”.

He teased: “Lots more casting to come in the following weeks.”

An adaptation of the novel was first confirmed in 2020 after Amblin Partners secured rights in a competitive auction.

The fastest-selling adult crime debut, Osman has since written three more books in the series, with a fifth due out next year.

Before becoming a well-known face on quiz shows including Pointless and Richard Osman’s House Of Games, the quiz master and author worked as a TV entertainment executive, producing shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Deal Or No Deal and Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Entertainment

Deadpool 3: Ryan Reynolds teases cameo of Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer in new Marvel film

Published

6 hours ago

April 23, 2024

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Deadpool 3: Ryan Reynolds teases cameo of Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer in new Marvel film

Ryan Reynolds appears to have confirmed that Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer is in his next film, Deadpool 3.

The Hollywood star, an owner of the Welsh football club, shared the trailer on social media, writing: “Found the guy who killed Bambi’s mom”.

An eagle-eyed Wrexham fan, who calls himself Beardy on Twitter, quickly noticed a man wearing a denim jacket in the background of one of the scenes, identifying him as “one Ollie Palmer”.

A podcast dedicated to the football club, Fearless In Devotion, backed up his claim, sharing the still from the trailer along with a screenshot of Palmer, 32, commenting on Reynold’s post: “If you squint…”

Reynolds, 47, commented on the podcast’s post: “Keen eyesight”.

The podcast team went on to say they had verified the claim, saying in another comment on the post: “I’ve asked him. He’s confirmed it is him”.

The new Marvel film – which will be out in the UK on 26 July – brings Deadpool and Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman) together to defeat a common enemy.

Palmer appears to make his brief background appearance in the first scene of the trailer, in which Deadpool walks over to Wolverine at a bar.

He’s wearing a white shirt, jeans and denim jacket, and has dark hair and a bushy dark beard.

Palmer joined Wrexham from AFC Wimbledon in January 2022, a year after Reynolds and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia co-creator Rob McElhenney, 46, took over the club.

Since then, the Welsh football club has secured two successive promotions, which along with the popular Welcome To Wrexham docuseries, has propelled it into the global spotlight.

In 2022, Reynolds and McElhenney were honoured by the Welsh government, the Football Association of Wales and S4C for promoting the country and its language with the Dragon Award.

They’ve also met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the King and Queen and the Prince of Wales.

Sky News has contacted Palmer’s representative for comment.

Entertainment

Anne Hathaway describes ‘gross’ audition where she had to kiss 10 men

Published

9 hours ago

April 23, 2024

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Anne Hathaway describes 'gross' audition where she had to kiss 10 men

Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway has described a “gross” past audition where she had to “make out” with 10 men.

The 41-year-old star described the experience which she said happened in the early 2000s as “a very different time”.

She told V Magazine: “Back in the 2000s – and this did happen to me – it was considered normal to ask an actor to make out with other actors to test for chemistry, which is actually the worst way to do it.

“I was told, ‘We have 10 guys coming today and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to make out with all of them?’ And I thought, ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ because I wasn’t excited. I thought it sounded gross.

“And I was so young and terribly aware how easy it was to lose everything by being labelled ‘difficult’, so I just pretended I was excited and got on with it. It wasn’t a power play, no one was trying to be awful or hurt me.

“It was just a very different time and now we know better.”

Hathaway did not specify which film the audition was for or who any of the male actors were.

She compared the casting process with that of her upcoming romantic comedy The Idea Of You, in which she plays a 40-year-old single mum who becomes involved with a 24-year-old boy band singer.

“We asked each of the actors coming in to choose a song that they felt their character would love, that they would put on to get my character to dance, and then we’d do a short little [improvisation]”, Hathaway said.

Describing the casting with 29-year-old British actor Nicholas Galitzine – who won the role – she said he chose a song by Alabama Shakes and the audition was “just easy”.

She explained: “I heard [the lead singer of Alabama Shakes] Brittany’s voice and I just started smiling. And he saw me smile, so he relaxed, and we just started dancing.

“Nobody was showing off. Nobody was trying to get the gig. We were just in a space dancing. I looked over and Michael Showalter, our director, was beaming. Spark!”

Galitzine has previously starred in Sky Atlantic’s Mary & George opposite Oscar-winner Julianne Moore, Prime Video comedy Red, White & Royal Blue playing Prince Henry.

Hathaway first made her name in 2001 after the release of the original The Princess Diaries film opposite Dame Julie Andrews. In the interview, she addressed rumours of a third film in the franchise.

“We’re in a good place…That’s all I can say. There’s nothing to announce yet. But we’re in a good place,” she said.

The sequel to the original – The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement – came out three years after the first in 2004.

Hathaway also said “there’s no hiding” the fact that she would love to appear on Broadway during her career.

“[Being on Broadway] was my first dream, you know? And so many amazing, extraordinary things have happened to me but not that one yet. It’s a goal that is very, very much alive inside of me,” she added.

The Idea Of You is streaming from Thursday 2 May on Prime Video.