CA Current

The five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has two unfilled seats, will see the departure of Commissioner Bernard McNamee at the end of June. “I am not seeking a reappointment,” McNamee announced at the Commission’s Jan. 23 meeting. He plans to leave the commission when his term ends June 30. McNamee, a Republican, was appointed […]

State energy regulators give Southern California Edison the green light to collect $4.7 billion for projected 2020 energy costs during their first meeting of the year. The California Public Utilities Commission also votes unanimously to dedicate most of the Self Generation Incentive Program rebates to energy storage in fire-stressed communities. In addition, the commission approves […]

The California Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to initiate a rulemaking to update its natural gas reliability and long-term planning. The overall aim is to revamp its planning process to ensure gas systems are safe and reliable as California weans itself off of fossil fuels. “The gas system is going through profound changes,” Commissioner […]

Before lawmakers this session is Senate legislation to make buildings more fire resistant in high risk areas, protect customers during utility power shutoffs, and rework the renewables mandate. A few of these bills will be heard Jan. 15 in the Senate Energy, Utilities & Communication Committee’s first hearing of the year. Three bills seek to […]

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 […]

Updated Jan. 16 The Department of Energy Jan. 16 approved adding steps to a rule setting new energy efficiency standards for refrigerators, dishwashers, home furnaces, commercial air conditioners, industrial motors and other equipment. DOE “designed its new process rule to make it slower and harder to establish energy-saving efficiency standards,” Andrew deLaski, executive director of […]

The start of the New Year brings bold federal and state clean energy and equity measures. It also brings closer a looming deadline for Pacific Gas & Electric. There is a huge push to get PG&E out of bankruptcy by the end of June. Meeting that deadline will allow it to access the multi-billion dollar […]

Federal energy regulators made permanent natural gas constraints the California Independent System Operator imposed temporarily on Southern California power plants. This is a “just and reasonable approach” to “ensure CAISO continues to have the tools necessary to address risks associated with the potential impacts of the continued limited operability of Aliso Canyon on the reliability […]

San Bernardino’s County Board of Supervisors Dec. 10 turned down a bid to derail a 650 MW solar power project in Daggett. The 650 MW solar plant, which is being developed by Clearway Energy, will cover 3,500 acres of high desert land and is to include 450 MW of battery storage.  The Newberry Community Services […]

Controversy over a Los Angeles Department of Water & Power decision to replace a 1,800 MW coal-fired power plant in Utah with a smaller natural-gas-fired unit may result in an environmentally friendly overhaul.  The muni is considering running the planned combined cycle generating facility with renewable hydrogen. Under a plan discussed by the muni Dec. […]

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 […]

Updated Dec. 5 The California Air Resources Board Dec. 5 adopted rules that seek to reduce carbon and toxic air emissions at California’s major ports. The regulations were driven by the serious health impacts on overburdened, low-income communities surrounding the areas. The new standards focus on emission reductions from berthed ships and other vessels. One […]

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 […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves the California ISO’s energy storage compliance filing. It also again rejects on a 2-1 vote climate analyses of liquefied natural gas export projects. A U.S. Senate panel calls for the full Senate to approve the Republican FERC nominee. The silence remains deafening on the fate of the Democrats pick, […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week approved the California grid operator’s energy storage compliance filing, as well as those of two others. The commission also approved four more liquefied natural gas projects and a draft order reworking how it determines returns on equity. FERC Chair Neil Chatterjee said the three energy storage rulings “ensure […]

Clear air advocates Nov. 19 urged the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to put the brakes on a coal to natural gas conversion at the Intermountain Power Project in Utah. Their call occurred the same day that the California Energy Commission revealed that much of state’s gas power plant fleet will remain online […]

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 […]

After acknowledging the death and destruction wrought by the Camp Fire on the eve its first anniversary, state energy regulators unanimously approved requiring utilities, community energy and direct access providers to line up 3,300 MW of additional energy reserves. The California Public Utilities Commission also agreed during its Nov. 7 meeting to urge the State […]

In spite of no action by the White House on the unfilled Democratic seat at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee Nov. 5 vetted Republican FERC nominee James Danly. Committee Chair Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said it was acceptable to hold the hearing because President Donald Trump had […]