California's highest-ranking energy officials are pondering solutions to the state's rising natural gas and electricity bills, which could force more utility customers into one of two categories: those who can comfortably afford their electricity and heat and those who will struggle to find …
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The California Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 19 proposed seven new public-safety power shut-off guidelines for utilities to follow during potential or actual shut-offs. Read More
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Feb. 22 that its Office of Enforcement is examining wholesale natural gas and electricity market activity during the recent extreme cold weather to determine if any market participants engaged in market manipulation or other violations. If the OE… Read More
About one-third of the demand response that was counted toward California's utility resource-adequacy capacity was not available during the August grid outages, according to a new market-monitoring report that sheds more light on demand-response performance during the events. Read More
Weather-inflated Western energy prices continued to moderate this week. While power prices plunged sharply in trading, without the demand support or supply constraints of the prior week, regional natural gas prices leveled off. Read More
California's highest-ranking energy officials are pondering solutions to the state's rising natural gas and electricity bills, which could force more utility customers into one of two categories: those who can comfortably afford their electricity and heat and those who will struggle to find … Read More
The California Public Utilities Commission is seeking comment on a proposal to require load-serving entities to procure 7,500 MW by the end of 2025, partly to make up for the retirement of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. Read More
The California Energy Commission on Feb. 19 held a public scoping meeting to address residents' concerns regarding a 99-MW backup diesel-fueled power plant in San Jose that workshop participants said could increase air pollution in nearby disadvantaged neighborhoods and harm golden eagle habitat. Read More
The California Energy Commission on Feb. 25 held the state's first "Lithium Valley" commission meeting to push forward extraction of the precious metal from the Salton Sea. California plans to produce lithium in-state, thereby creating clean-energy jobs, securing supply chains and manufactur… Read More
The recent power outages during freezing weather in Texas led to multiple deaths and billions of dollars in damages, though grid managers assert that had they not responded as they did the outcome would have been even worse. The situation illustrates people's dependence on the electric power… Read More
Victims of 2017 and 2018 wildfires attributed to Pacific Gas & Electric equipment filed a lawsuit against former executives of the company. Separately, PG&E was served with a search warrant over the 2019 Kincade Fire. Read More
Regulators outside of Texas, hoping to prevent disasters in their own states, began convening utilities when extended outages during freezing temperatures caused what has been deemed a humanitarian crisis in the Lone Star State. Read More
Legislators in Colorado are debating a bill that would prohibit banning natural gas infrastructure in buildings and homes, days after the Utah Legislature on Feb. 16 sent a similar bill to the Governor's desk. Read More
NV Energy in 2021 will increase planning reserve margins for its two utility subsidiaries in response to record-breaking high temperatures across the West in August 2020. Read More
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2030 and adding 5.5 GW of new renewable energy and battery storage are just some of the goals outlined in Xcel Energy-Colorado's long-awaited clean-energy plan, released Feb. 24. Read More
Colorado regulators on Feb. 17 rejected a request by an environmental group to open a rulemaking that would have set binding, declining greenhouse gas emissions limits for multiple sectors through 2030 and created a market-based cap-and-trade program to allow compliance with that limit. Read More
Arizona Public Service will pay $24 million in restitution to residential customers who were either misled by a faulty rate-comparison tool on the company's website in 2019 or affected by "data errors" in letters sent by the utility to customers in 2017 recommending they switch to a rate pla… Read More
San Diego-based Sempra Energy on Feb. 25 reported fourth-quarter 2020 earnings of $461 million, or $1.43 per share, up $14 million from the same quarter in the previous year. Read More
Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison on Feb. 25 reported revenue of $1.7 billion, compared with $1.6 billion in 2019, and profits of $700 million for 2020 compared with $1.3 billion in 2019. Read More
Pinnacle West Capital, the parent company of Arizona Public Service, on Feb. 24 reported 2020 earnings of $4.87 per diluted share compared with $4.70 per share in 2019. Read More
Jennifer Granholm was sworn in as secretary of energy Feb. 25 after the Senate confirmed her nomination earlier in the day. Read More