The California Public Utilities Commission voted Jan. 15 against cutting The Utility Reform Network’s compensation claim in a proceeding by nearly 25 percent, instead cutting it only by 15 percent. At issue was whether to disallow compensation for the consumer advocate’s tome spent on arguments that mirrored other intervenors. “Coordination should be encouraged, not discouraged,” said commissioner Mike Florio, who authored the alternate proposal that won unanimous support. The difference was $12,000 between the decision that sought to cut TURN’s claim by more and the approved one reducing it by 15 percent, said Florio, a former TURN senior staff attorney.<!--more--> Natural gas prices are at a two-year low and storage of gas is above the five-year average level, the U.S. Energy Information Agency said Jan. 13 in its latest short-term energy outlook. Growth in domestic production is behind both findings, according to EIA. More than 170,000 workers are employed by the U.S. solar energy industry, according to a report the Solar Foundation released Jan. 15. Over the past year, the industry has created 31,000 new jobs, which amounts to one out of every 78 new jobs created last year in the U.S., noted Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who commented on the study. Pacific Gas & Electric is providing technical support and up to $20,000 for each of five cities within its territory named as semifinalists in the Georgetown University Energy Prize, a nationwide energy efficiency competition for small-to-midsized communities. The five communities are Berkeley, Davis, Fremont, San Mateo, and Sunnyvale. Palo Alto, served by a municipal utility, also is a semifinalist. The winner will be named in 2017 on the basis of efforts to develop innovative, replicable new approaches to community-wide energy efficiency. The winner will get a $5 million prize to continue those efforts. Fifty cities made the semi-finalist cut. Pacific Gas & Electric must release to San Bruno and the California Public Utilities Commission 65,000 e-mails related to the gas pipeline explosion in 2010 that leveled a neighborhood in the city and killed eight people. A California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge ordered the release in a ruling Jan. 13. PG&E can redact the e-mails to protect confidential business information. <a href="mailto:editorial@cacurrent.com"><i>California Current Staff</i></a>
