CA Current

Preventative power shutoffs dominate the news. This week, the governor and California Public Utilities Commission blast Pacific Gas & Electric over its widespread shutoffs last week. Meanwhile, Southern California Edison warns some customers to expect the lights to go out in the coming days. The utility announcement comes as investigators probe utility equipment as the […]

Southern California Edison has alerted more than 33,000 of its customers that it may shut off power to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires. The warning came as the National Weather Service predicted wind storms throughout much of the utility’s territory in the days ahead, particularly in the high desert areas and mountains north and […]

With a warmer than normal winter expected, electricity and natural gas supplies this winter are expected to be both adequate and affordable, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s latest energy market assessment. Natural gas storage levels are at the five-year average level and gas prices are down from last winter. FERC projects a price […]

The California Energy Commission early this week approved more than $6 million in grants for projects aimed at helping food producers in the state save energy and cut greenhouse gases. “The Food Production Inventive Program is an important program that is helping California meet its 100 percent clean energy and its greenhouse gas reduction goals,” […]

Energy utility regulators Oct. 15 weighed various proposals for potentially expanding dynamic and real time power pricing. The day-long California Public Utilities Commission meeting focused  on various dynamic and real time pricing programs San Diego Gas & Electric has tested through the years. The limited programs have tested whether variable pricing can  hone the energy […]

Updated Oct. 15. Gov. Gavin Newsom Oct. 14 directed the California Public Utilities Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of Pacific Gas & Electric’s handling of the massive power shutoff last week aimed at preventing its equipment from sparking wildfires. Newsom also told the utility it should issue rebates of $100 to affected residential customers […]

California may soon have smart appliances that can be automatically turned off and on by energy companies to match their electricity use with power availability and price under a bill signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. “SB 49 will help bring California’s electrical grid into the 21st century and allow us to use our […]

The California Energy Commission Oct. 14 signed off on the integrated resources plans for the San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s Hetch Hetchy power system, as well as for the Modesto Irrigation District. “Each is consistent with the requirements of SB 350,” Paul Deaver, CEC program manager, told commissioners at this week’s business meeting. The San […]

Updated Oct. 17. The California Independent System Operator upgraded its power grid operating technology last week, saying it now has the most advanced system in the industry. CAISO launched the Siemens Spectrum PowerTM 7 energy management system after five years of study, competitive bidding, design, and implementation. “CAISO now has the most sophisticated energy management […]

As life returns to normal in the area where the Saddle Ridge Fire has swept through almost 8,000 acres along the northern rim of the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Fire Department investigators are examining whether Southern California Edison power lines ignited the blaze. The fire began Oct. 10 on Saddle Ridge Road in Sylmar. […]

Pacific Gas & Electric’s handling of its unprecedented power shutoffs to more than 700,000 has customers and regulators up in arms. PG&E also doesn’t get a warm reception in bankruptcy court. The judge rejects its effort to again have him ignore a competing plan to reorganize PG&E’s massive debts. Over at the California Public Utilities […]

Pacific Gas & Electric’s largest precautionary power outage in California in response to wildfire threats has outraged policy makers and customers. PG&E’s response “has been absolutely unacceptable” to communities, “to individual people, to the commerce of our state and the safety of our people,” Marybel Batjer, California Public Utilities Commission president, said Oct. 10. “This […]

In spite of mixed emotions, state energy regulators Oct. 10 unanimously approved $26 million in energy efficiency awards to the state’s four private electric and gas utilities. California Public Utilities Commission member Liane Randolph said that the approved resolution allowing the awards highlights troubling areas. The effectiveness of the CPUC’s whole performance incentive structure, therefore, […]

The California Public Utilities Commission was met a by a string of protesters Oct. 10 who objected to the commission’s proposed Integrated Resource Plan to extend the life of aging gas plants. Considering adding three years to the life of seawater-cooled gas power plants, predominantly along the Southern California coast, pays “little regard to the […]

Updated Oct. 10 Pacific Gas & Electric instituted power shutoffs across large swaths of California because of high fire danger midweek. Earlier, it unsuccessfully urged the federal bankruptcy court to hose an unwelcome reorganization proposal. Starting around midnight on Wednesday, PG&E began shutting off power to 800,000 customers. The shutoffs began in the counties in […]

In spite of significant greenhouse gas cuts from California’s electricity sector, the state is expected to fall well short of its 2030 climate protection target. Rising emissions from the transportation and commercial sectors are largely to blame, according to Next 10’s eleventh annual California Green Innovation Index. This updated Index “serves as a wake-up call,” […]

San Francisco, San Diego and Irvine ranked first, second and third respectively among U.S. cities at the forefront of promoting sustainable communities. That includes via the creation of green jobs and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, according to WalletHub.  It released its findings Oct. 8. Wallethub compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 28 critical […]

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear San Diego Gas & Electric’s argument that California regulators’ refusal to have ratepayers pay $379 million of the utility’s 2007 wildfire costs violated the Constitutional ban on unlawful takings. The utility said Oct. 7 it was “disappointed” that the High Court rejected its petition regarding its Wildfire Expense […]

California’s reach for 100 percent carbon-free power and electrification of its transportation system gives policy makers the chance to revitalize the economy of the state’s North Coast. Humboldt County’s coast—commonly called the Lost Coast—was once the bustling center of the state’s forestry industry. But, forest decline and environmental protections placed on the region’s logging turned […]

Pacific Gas & Electric agreed to pay a $65 million fine for falsifying records on the locations of its underground gas and electric pipelines, impacting the safety of excavators in and outside the company. The penalty also is for risks the utility caused by hiding its late responses to excavators’ requests. The Utility Reform Network […]