Pacific Gas & Electric and Tesla on July 21 began constructing a 182.5-MW lithium-ion battery storage facility in Moss Landing that will be one of the largest such utility-owned systems in the world. Read More
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The Western Energy Imbalance Market has accrued almost $1 billion in benefits since its November 2014 launch, according to the California Independent System Operator's quarterly report. The total gross benefits to date are $998.69 million. In the second quarter alone, EIM participants gained… Read More
Federal energy regulators are trying to find a way for behind-the-meter storage resources to sell into both wholesale and retail electricity markets in California, but figuring out the methodology is proving to be a thorny problem. Read More
Natural gas and electricity prices rose this week as Southern California Gas Co. imposed additional restrictions on its system and daytime temperatures surged. Read More
The California Public Utilities Commission is proposing a microgrid pilot program that would increase reliability at critical public facilities during grid outages in the next five years, and could include fossil-fuel generation resources, according to the commission. Read More
Several simulations of the Southern California natural gas infrastructure system indicate Aliso Canyon might still be needed to ensure system reliability and keep costs low in extreme operational conditions that occur once every decade, although the system might be able to get by without sup… Read More
Pacific Gas & Electric has resumed installation of electric-vehicle charging ports at workplaces and multi-unit dwellings after about a three-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
The California Energy Commission is offering $3 million for planning blueprints that identify actions and milestones needed to implement medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles and related electric charging or hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Read More
Energy and aeronautical researchers in California have identified 564 strong methane point sources in the state, according to California Energy Commission study released July 23. The large methane sources accounted for more than a third of the state's total methane inventory in 2016, the stu… Read More
Frank Wolak, director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University, joined Paul Dockery of Clatskanie PUD for the third installation of our "Electric Market Enthusiasm" series. The conversation uses his work on "Long-Term Resource Adequacy in Wholesale Electricity Markets with Significant Intermittent Renewables" and the Energy Market Game to discuss export curtailment, the reliability externality and electric market design elements. Read more
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Pacific Gas & Electric is planning a new program to identify the age of certain critical transmission components, and aims to start a pilot of the program in the first quarter of 2021, the utility told its felony probation judge in a July 28 filing. Read More
As climate change-related drought increases along with the population of the western U.S., water, arguably the region's most precious resource, is becoming even more valuable. Read More
Sunrun—a San Francisco-based provider of home solar, battery storage and energy services—and three Bay Area community choice aggregators are launching a solar and battery storage project designed to provide backup power to vulnerable residents during public-safety power shut-offs, including … Read More
Monterey Bay Community Power on July 27 launched its Agricultural Electrification Grant Program, which is intended to support the replacement of fossil-fuel-powered equipment with new electric equipment. Read More
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; and Exxon Mobil Corp. have developed a new material able to more effectively and inexpensively capture carbon dioxide from natural gas power plants' flue emissions for eventual reuse or sequestration. Read More
Edison International executives on July 28 said a decrease in earnings for the second quarter of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019 is largely the result of increased operations and maintenance expenses colliding with "customer uncollectibles" and other expenses related to the corona… Read More
PG&E Corp. posted a second-quarter loss of $1.9 billion, a sunnier outcome for the company than the $2.5-billion loss in the same period a year ago, as it and utility subsidiary Pacific Gas & Electric emerge from bankruptcy. Read More
Despite pandemic impacts that have significantly depressed commercial and industrial sales, Xcel Energy of Minneapolis on July 30 reported net income of $287 million, or 54 cents per share, for the second quarter. The figures reflect an increase of $49 million or 8 cents per share compared w… Read More
One of the West's largest remaining coal-fired power plants will be replaced with renewable resources and battery storage. Read More
Technology infrastructure company Switch of Las Vegas and asset-management firm Capital Dynamics on July 23 announced the groundbreaking for three new solar-plus-storage projects, including a 127-MW/240-MWh facility that will be the world's largest behind-the-meter project, according to the … Read More
An explosion that occurred at Arizona Public Service's McMicken Substation was most likely the result of a flawed battery cell that initiated a fire leading to a thermal runaway event, a 15-month investigation into the incident concluded. Read More
President Donald Trump on July 29 nominated Mark Christie, a Virginia utility commissioner, and Allison Clements, a former executive and now consultant with the Energy Foundation, to fill vacancies on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Read More