According to the region’s grid operator, solar farms powering New England were producing 56% less energy at times of peak demand compared with the week before. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that electricity generated by solar across the territory serviced by PJM Interconnection LLC, which spans Illinois to North Carolina, was down about 25% from the previous week. …

“With a situation like this, it’s really unprecedented” in the Northeast, said Matt Kakley, a spokesperson for ISO-New England. “We don’t have a lot of historical data to look back on. There is some learning in real time.” Solar accounts for about 3% of power generation in New England.

[Please note that last factoid. Even after all this time and all the subsidies thrown at it, solar generates only a small percentage of supply to the grid in New England. That means the impact of the loss of solar with these wildfires is pretty minimal, but it also means that solar isn’t anything close to a solution for American energy production without reliable and scalable alternatives, such as fossil fuel and nuclear. — Ed]