| Independently Powered Energy News
SMUD
CA Utilities Join Forces to Thwart Growing Utility Bill Scams
Customers increased reliance on home utility services has caused a rise in scammers preying on them and in increasingly nefarious...
Massive Storm Causes Big Outages in PG&E Territory
Updated Oct. 27 The powerful storm that dumped unprecedented rainfall in parched Northern and Central California, particularly the Bay Area,...
The Buzz
The Sacramento Municipal Utilities District approves lower payments for distributed solar matched with storage incentives. Will other regulators grappling with...
SMUD Plans to Beat State Net Zero Carbon Goal by 15 Years
California has mandated its state power providers reach 60% renewables by 2030, but the Sacramento Municipal Utility District plans to...
Newsom Proposes $2B for Ratepayer Bill Relief
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced May 10 that $2 billion in relief will be distributed among Californians having difficulty paying their...
CA Gets It that the Power System Must Manage EV Charging
California’s heat wave-induced blackouts came during evening peak demand spikes. If California fails to manage electric vehicle charging it could...
CA Grid Operator: “We are scouring every corner of our world.”
More than 3 million California homes could have their power cut off by the three investor-owned utilities starting late afternoon...
The Buzz
Energy storage is surging in California, with much of it being built next to solar plants. The grid operator board...
The Energy Industry in the Time of COVID-19
The energy industry has instituted operational changes to slow the spread of the new coronavirus while staying focused on continuing...
CEC Steps in After Trump Guts Lighting Standard
The California Energy Commission acted this week to prevent incandescent and other inefficient general light bulbs from being sold in...
West Coast Utilities Coordinate on Big Truck Electrification
A study on electrifying the 1,350 mile route from Mexico to Canada for medium- and heavy-duty trucks is being launched...
Shorts
A dozen-and-a-half Democratic U.S. Senators called on the newest member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to abstain from voting...
CCA’s Hit High Renewable Level
Updated Oct. 30 with corrections. The original article mistakenly equated the 2016 power content labels filed at the California Energy...
Climate Roundup: SMUD Back$ All Electric Homes
A major municipal utility and homebuilder announced Oct. 10 that all electric homes are now for sale in a new...
SMUD Approves WaterFix Environmental Document
The California WaterFix project, a potential $16 billion dollar public works plan to divert water from the state’s largest delta...
SMUD Clears Way for 5G Transceivers on Power Poles
In response to efforts by telecommunications companies to expand their 4G networks and build new 5G networks, the Sacramento Municipal...
The Buzz
Greening the grid is the talk of the town. At the CAISO’s annual confab held this week, most bets are...
SMUD To More Than Double Its Cloud Seeding
In the hopes it will lead to higher levels of hydropower generation, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s board Oct. 19...
JUICE: Scaling CA’s Zero Carbon Summit
Politicians are to rope up next month and set the path for climbing to a 100 percent renewable/zero emissions energy...
SMUD Okays 1% Rate Hike
Sacramento Municipal Utility District ratepayers will be paying more for power beginning in 2018. Meeting June 15, the board approved...