Traditional Fuels
Natural Gas Prices Spike, Solar and Wind Buildout Continues
Meteorologists are forecasting a warmer winter across much of the United States, which often leads to slack demand for natural gas. But this year, increased exports of liquefied natural gas are driving up the price of the fuel, according to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff. Global global demand for LNG exports has increased 21% increase compared to last winter.
Controversial Redondo Beach Gas Plant to Stay Online
It’s final. In the tension between electricity reliability and harmful pollution, reliability won out in a vote on Oct. 19 to keep the aging Redondo Beach fossil-fired power plant online for another two years. The [...]
Pilots to curb disconnections, diesel backups soar, billion$ for EVs
The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approves investor-owned utility pilots to reduce the number of poor customers who have their power shutoff because of unpaid utility bills. The quintet also votes to develop a safety [...]
Diesel Backup Spree by Businesses Equals 15% of California Grid Capacity
Businesses have installed diesel generators across California at such a clip that they now amount to 15% of the total electrical capacity, undermining California’s greenhouse gas reduction targets and harming public health, according to new research from the consulting group M.Cubed.
Edison Warns California Won’t Make its Greenhouse Gas Limits
Edison International added its voice to warnings that California will not reach its greenhouse gas reduction mandate set for 2030 under the 15-year old AB 32 without major changes at the state and federal [...]
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 [...]
SoCalGas Reaches Aliso Canyon Settlement
Southern California Gas has proposed a $1.8 billion settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed by San Fernando Valley victims of the gas company’s massive, months-long methane leak from its Aliso Canyon Storage Field [...]
Redondo Beach Power Plant Set to Remain Online through 2023
The controversial Redondo Beach natural gas-fired power plant that has been slated for closure two times because it pulls in ocean water then discharges hot water back into the sea will likely get another [...]
Shorts
Updated Sept. 23 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation providing more than $15 billion to reduce the impacts of the climate crisis. Of that amount $3.9 billion is to advance the state’s zero emissions vehicle market. [...]
Expedited storage permits, Anti-gas suit dropped, SMUD pursues novel net metering reform
The California Energy Commission accelerates the permitting of large storage projects to get more power online by next fall. The action follows the controversial expedited certification process for natural gas and diesel projects to beef up [...]
News Roundup: SoCalGas Ends Lawsuit Alleging Energy Commission Was ‘Anti-Gas’
SoCalGas settled a lawsuit it filed last year against the California Energy Commission that claimed some of its work to address the climate crisis was illegal. It specifically challenged efforts to advance clean energy under [...]
CEC Speeds Up Storage Permits, Funds Used EV Battery Truck Charging Station
The California Energy Commission accelerated permitting for large energy storage projects to address the increasing risk of power shortages during intense heat. It also awarded millions of dollars in clean energy grants, including $5 million to a solar plus storage project that uses second life electric vehicle batteries...
SCE rate increase, CEC fossil power permits, Rooftop solar costs vs benefits
Southern California Edison gets a nice juicy three-year rate increase of nearly 20% above the current revenue of $6.4 billion. Much of hike is for covering a huge swath of power lines in fire prone [...]
CEC Waives Air Pollution Rules in a Rush for New Diesel and Natural Gas Power
Reversing years of clean power priorities, the California Energy Commission is waiving air quality protections and rushing permits for new diesel-burning generators and gas-fired power plants in a desperate push to get more generation [...]
Groundbreaking building code, Summer 2022 grid, Diablo decommissioning deal
Two days after dire climate warnings by the International Panel on Climate Change, the California Energy Commission adopts a long-awaited building energy efficiency code update. It is a big step towards slashing 25% of the [...]
CPUC Advances $4B Settlement to Close Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant
A $3.9 billion settlement between Pacific Gas & Electric, ratepayer advocates, nuclear watchdogs, and others to decommission the utility’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant gets a green light under a California Public Utilities [...]
CEC Adopts 2022 Triennial Building Efficiency Code
The California Energy Commission unanimously approved a hard fought, cutting edge building energy efficiency code update Aug. 11, a key part being incentives for efficient electric water and space heat pumps in all new residential buildings and some nonresidential ones. The largest share of building energy is from heating systems, with gas-fired systems producing most of the carbon emissions
Saving Energy Continues to Be the Best Deal in Town
Saving a kilowatt has long been known to be the best kilowatt. Now an analysis by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of efficiency programs run by dozens of program administrators across 21 states shows just [...]
CEC Set to Adopt New Triennial Building Efficiency Code
After months of push me, pull you, the California Energy Commission is posed to adopt the latest update to the state’s building energy efficient code Aug. 11. Gas utility companies, clean air advocates and several [...]
Diesel backup, Peninsula Clean Energy EV rebates
The California Energy Commission held an Aug. 10 hearing to get a status update on a proposed data center that seeks a permit exemption for its 96 MW diesel powered backup project. The Vantage Data [...]
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 [...]