I haven't gone through a lot of the regulations myself (and apparently some of the "official" websites aren't maintained that well), but it sounds like the restrictions might have to do with the amount of power consumed during sleep states and a higher limit is allowed for more "expandable" computers with more slots and larger power supplies, with a total exemption for computers over a certain expandability score or exceed a certain power supply wattage and discrete GPU or integrated GPU + RAM bandwidth. The expandability score seems to be calculated based on a lot of little details, such as the number of USB 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 ports, Ethernet, number of PCIe slots etc. From the snippets I was able to find I'm wondering if this is more geared towards offices with tons of low-powered PCs that just sit idle without actually sleeping, or something similar.

I think Dell has had a reputation of having potentially less-expandable components and weaker-than-average power supplies, and many of their pre-order combinations don't meet the requirements. I'm also not sure if their online portal would have the intelligence to recognize if customizing a PC (i.e. upgrading the power supply) would put it over the threshold. I imagine a number of these manufacturers might in the future might add just enough PSU efficiency/wattage or extra ports etc. to push them over the allowed limit.

There are two HVDC lines that I know of that are in that area, both connected to Southern California. One goes to mid-northern Utah (IPP) and the other goes to the Washington area (Pacific DC intertie).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

They carry a crazy amount of power compared to traditional AC lines. The switching stations to convert between AC and DC are expensive and maintenance heavy (compared to "simple" AC transformers) but the losses are much less on DC lines and without the skin effect on the lines (AC has the highest current density near the outside of the conductor), the lines can effectively carry much more for the same amount of material.

Biggest problem has been the complexity and expense of the switching stations, we have come a long ways in switching power supplies (tiny phone chargers, etc) but for dealing with the 500 kV+ ranges it's still quite difficult to do. It's getting better, but AC has the strength of simple and (relatively) cheap transformers, so until the DC switching is on a similar price point it probably won't become prevalent on the smaller scales.