Department of Water Resources
CPUC prez steps down, 120 MW of new gas plants, New East Bay wind farm
The biggest news of the week is the announcement that the California Public Utilities Commission chief is leaving, five years before the end of her term. President Marybel Batjer tells staff in an email about her upcoming departure.
The job of creating a carbon emissions-free supply of lithium from the shores of the […]
120 MW of New Fossil Gas Generation Installed
Source: DWR
Four new 30 MW natural gas-fired generators have just been added to the California grid at a cost of $196 million. In a peculiarity of the state’s power system, it was the Department of Water Resources that has been in charge of the installations expected to provide power at times of high stress […]
Big hydro loss, Gov. waives pollution limits, Sempra earnings
Warnings about diminished hydropower because of the ongoing drought in California become a reality. On Thursday, a state official announces the shutdown of the 750 MW Hyatt Powerplant because of the lack of flow from Oroville Lake to feed it.
That is after Gov. Gavin Newsom, in the […]
California Loses 750 MW of Summer Peaking Power
The ongoing drought has caused a significant drop in Lake Oroville in Butte County, causing a loss of 750 MW of hydropower that can be called on at hours of peak demand.
Shorts
The Department of Water Resources’ March 2 snow survey found that California’s snowpack was below average. Overall, it’s 61% of the average for this time of year, and 86% of the average at Phillips Station in South Lake Tahoe. At the latter station, a snow depth of 56 inches was measured with […]
Shorts
updated Feb. 4
A federal judge handling Pacific Gas & Electric’s probation called the utility “criminally reckless” for failing to take out a tree that may have caused last fall’s Zoff fire, which killed four people, the Courthouse News Service reported Feb. 3. Judge Alsup, who is overseeing the […]