CA Current

As wildfires spread, the governor increases the state budget to add more than 850 firefighters. Given the double whammy of fire threats and the pandemic, firefighters are directed to take necessary safety steps, including wearing masks and social distancing.  The same rules will apply to those evacuated by the state. How to ensure the financing […]

Struggling Californians make up 40% of the population and suffer a disproportionate share of indoor pollution, principally from gas-fueled appliances. A new report, Towards an Accessible Financing Solution, offers a blueprint for financing strategies to drive the electrification of the homes of low-income people. Currently, home clean energy retrofits are principally reaped by Californians who […]

The House Select Committee on Climate Change released a much-awaited plan June 30 that seeks to make the nation carbon neutral by 2050, five years later than California’s deadline. The new national proposal stresses that continued climate pollution equals continued racism, disproportionately impacting non-whites. It puts environmental justice communities at the front of the line […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest spending blueprint for 2020 to 2021 increases funding for wildfire prevention and safeguards funds for reducing the impacts of power shutoffs despite a $54 billion deficit created by the pandemic. The bad news on the climate front is that the latest proposal eliminates the five-year $4.75 billion Climate Resiliency Bond slated […]

Updated April 30 The last snow survey of the season found the state snowpack at 37% of the May average. That equates to 8.4 inches of snow water equivalent. The standard survey at Phillips Station in Lake Tahoe was 1.5 inches, with a snow water equivalent of 0.5 inches, which is 3% of the May […]

At is first-ever remote hearing in the 45-year history, the California Energy Commission took further steps to curb the use of natural gas in buildings. The five commissioners April 7 approved seven city building ordinances reducing or eliminating natural gas use, increasing renewable use and/or energy savings in new and remodeled construction. The ordinances exceed […]

Incessant telephonic disruptions don’t stop state regulators from approving 25,000 MW of new clean energy projects to cut the sector’s emission to 46 megatons of carbon emissions by 2030.  Also during their challenging public telephone business meeting, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously okays $200 million in building decarbonization pilots. It also extends a multi-million […]

State energy regulators approved March 26 allocating $200 million over four years to support two building decarbonization programs. The decision is “sensible, bold and pragmatic,” California Public Utilities Commission member Cliff Rechtschaffen said. He noted it addresses California’s over-reliance on gas-powered heaters and appliances. Of the state’s total natural gas consumption, 12% is used by […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 4 reappointed two California Independent System Operator board members. Ashutosh Bhagwat and Angelina Galiteva were given additional three-year terms by the governor. Both members are serving third terms. Steve Berberich, ISO president and CEO, who retires in June, said the re-appointees and the executive leadership will continue to work together […]

California has successfully decoupled economic growth from energy consumption, a fact highlighted in the new Integrated Energy Policy Report by the California Energy Commission. That’s an indicator that California can attain carbon neutrality before midcentury. But the report says much more work is needed to get there. Between 2000 and 2018, California’s gross state product […]

This coming year will be full of action in half a dozen energy areas. There will be bigger wrestling matches between California and the Trump Administration over climate protection, between natural gas advocates and opponents, and between community choice aggregation and the private utilities. The three other key issues of 2020: energy storage, electrification of […]

A carbon tax is the talk of the town this week. Republican members of a House panel insist it would be a cost without a benefit because global action is critical. In response, their Democratic brethren chastise them for not partaking in the ongoing UN climate talks. Solar-powered microgrids paired with battery storage can keep […]

The often forgotten middle child of the clean energy family, energy efficiency, shared center stage with other carbon emissions cutting measures targeting California homes and commercial buildings. Energy efficiency has “a lot of ties with decarbonization,” said Commission Andrew McAllister during the CEC’s Dec. 4 workshop on cutting greenhouse gases from buildings 40 percent by […]

Two additional cities joined Marin Clean Energy Nov. 25. Vallejo and Pleasant Hill together will add 64,000 electric service accounts and 150,000 residents to Marin Clean Energy’s service territory, which now incorporates 34 jurisdictions in Solano, Marin, Napa, and Contra Costa Counties. “Cost-competitive energy choice is important to our community,” said Vallejo Vice Mayor Pippin […]

To reach California’s decarbonization mandate within a quarter of a century, the electric sector must make the biggest greenhouse gas emission cuts, energy regulators and policy makers were told Nov. 18. This sector annually produces about 64 million metric tons of greenhouse gases today and that level must be reduced to between 6 MMT to […]

Electrifying homes and buildings in California can create more than 100,000 jobs annually, mostly in construction work, according a report released Nov. 14 by the Luskin Center for Innovation at University of California at Los Angeles and Inclusive Economics. “In total, building electrification in California could support between 64,200 and 104,100 jobs annually, after accounting […]

California’s investor-owned utilities in the southern half of the state reported solid earnings, with those of San Diego Gas & Electric and SoCal Gas rising significantly. Southern California Edison’s margin dropped, however. Pacific Gas & Electric, with little notice, reported its third quarter net income Nov. 7. Edison International: the utility’s corporate parent saw its net […]

As California cities and the state pursue all-electric homes and buildings, two organizations Oct. 2 recommended steps to ensure that low-income communities share in the environmental and economic benefits of this strategy. “Getting off of gas will have important benefits for these communities if policies are rolled out with a mission to improve the health […]