HOLIDAY SALES TO SLOW FROM LAST YEAR’S
Trade group says growth could be higher because of inflation even if shoppers buy less
The National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group, expects holiday sales growth will slow to a range of 6 percent to 8 percent, compared with the blistering 13.5 percent growth of a year ago.
But inflation can pump up sales even if people are buying less, and with prices surging to uncomfortable levels, industry analysts believe that inflation-adjusted sales could be flat, or even negative this year.
Holiday sales have risen an average of 4.9 percent over the past 10 years but Americans ramped up spending during the pandemic, which accounted for some outsized sales numbers.
The NRF on Thursday predicted that sales in November and December will grow to between $942.6 billion to $960.4 billion. Holiday sales exploded during the pandemic with Americans splurging on pajamas and home goods, mostly online.
The group expects that online and other non-store sales, which are included in the total, will increase between 10 percent and 12 percent to between $262.8 billion and $267.6 billion.
The numbers exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.
The forecast considers a variety of indicators including employment, wages, consumer confidence, disposable income, consumer credit, previous retail sales and weather.
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— the practice in which utilities such as San Diego Gas & Electric cut power on selected circuits when high winds and dry conditions increase the chances of downed power lines igniting wildfires.
“Right here, employees, patrons and even people in the intersections (on streets next to the casino) were completely in the dark,” Christman said. “The health and safety of everybody was quite a concern.”
The battery storage system,
which is expected to be completed by summer, will help keep outdoor lighting on and provide power to other areas around the site.
The 60-megawatt-hour system will use zinc hybrid cathode batteries from Eos Energy Enterprises, a company based in New Jersey, and vanadium redox flow batteries supplied by Invinity Energy Systems, an international company with offices in North America.
Once installed, Invinity CEO Larry Zulch said the vanadium redox flow battery system at Viejas is expected to be the largest of its kind in North America.
“The thing about vanadium flow batteries is that they’re designed specifically for stationary energy storage,” Zulch said. “That’s why the California Energy Commission wants to support it. You’re never going to see them in a car or a truck or a cellphone. They’re too big and heavy. But they don’t catch fire and they don’t wear out.”
Zulch said the batteries are designed to run for 10 to 12 hours, which is much longer than many storage systems that discharge for about four hours.
That’s attractive to the energy commission since
California expects that more than 48,000 megawatts of battery storage and 4,000 megawatts of long-duration storage will be needed by 2045 to meet the state’s clean-energy mandates.
“As we are increasing renewables on the grid, we need different forms of storage to provide different benefits,” said David Hochschild, California Energy Commission chair. “What we’re doing with our longduration storage program is really (seeking) eight-hour to 100-hour chemistries.”
Energy storage has taken on a higher profile in recent years as more renewable
sources of power have come onto the electric grid.
Solar production may be abundant during the day but practically vanishes after sunset or when smoke and clouds obscure the skies. And when the wind doesn’t blow, production from wind farms peters out. Energy storage — particularly from batteries — is seen as a key way to fill the gaps.
Storage systems take solar power generated during the day and discharge the electricity later, especially during the 4-9 p.m. hours when California’s grid is under the most stress.
The Viejas storage facility will get its electricity by integrating about 30,000 photovoltaic solar panels at parking garage carports and commercial areas around the resort. Construction is expected to start Jan. 9.
Indian Energy officials said the project is valued at about $120 million and the company signed a 30-year power purchase agreement with the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians.
The $31 million grant from the energy commission comes from the state’s general fund.