Gov. Gavin Newsom on Dec. 30 reappointed Marybel Batjer as president of the California Public Utilities Commission. Her second term ends Jan. 1, 2027. Batjer was originally appointed as CPUC president on July 12, 2019, by Newsom and was sworn in on Aug. 16 of that year. The position requires… Read More
California electric grid operators will be relying on a new technology used in unprecedented ways to avoid blackouts this summer, similar to those that rolled across the state last August. And the time frame for success is short. Read More
Western energy price movement was nominal, if not tame, following the flip of the calendar to 2021. Demand was sufficiently soft that additions were made to California natural gas storage during the Dec. 31 through Jan. 7 trading period. Read More
The president of California's utility commission directed certain investor-owned utilities in the state to seek additional power capacity before next summer, despite a cacophony of concerns regarding the true need for more capacity in the Golden State. Read More
The California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed decision denying a Public Advocates Office request to compel San Diego Gas & Electric to distribute its annual natural gas credits to customers in their July 2020 bills rather than in April 2021. Read More
"Urgency" is the word of the day as the California Independent System Operator rushes to put in place a series of market rules and procedural changes before the searing heat of another California summer drives up power demand. Read More
The California Air Resources Board is searching for alternative fuel types that could replace a proposed backup diesel generation facility at a future data center in San Jose, but the facility's representatives told CARB that its customers, including companies like Zoom, would not utilize a … Read More
The California Energy Commission on Jan. 6 outlined the top nine research areas for its 2021 Electric Program Investment Charge initiatives, starting with an effort to build net-zero-carbon mobile homes in the state. Read More
Federal energy regulators approved the Southwest Power Pool's Western Energy Imbalance Services tariff, which SPP said paves the way for its planned launch of the real-time balancing market on Feb. 1. Read More
The iconic calling card of the West's largest coal-fired power plant, a trio of 775-foot smokestacks that loomed over the desert just north of the Grand Canyon near Page, Arizona, fell to the ground after a series of blasts on Dec. 18. The demolition, though expected as part of decommissioni… Read More
Commercial and industrial customers in California are using microgrids to reach higher degrees of energy autonomy—increasingly with simpler, "prepackaged " microgrids—as developers tout the benefits of cleaner fuels and advanced technology that allows unprecedented levels of energy management. Read More
Peninsula Clean Energy recently signed three contracts, securing 245 MW of wind energy for the community choice aggregator, it said in a Jan. 5 news release. Read More
Pacific Gas & Electric completed the sale of its Kern Canyon hydroelectric project to Kern and Tule Hydro LLC. Read More
The California Department of Water Resources found a snow-water equivalent of 10.5 inches at its Dec. 30 manual snowpack measurement at Phillips Station, the first of the 2020-2021 water year. This is 93 percent of the Jan. 1 average for this location. Read More
John Hairston will become the 16th administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration and the first person of color to lead the agency in its 84-year history, the U.S. Department of Energy said Jan. 7. Read More
Xcel Energy-Colorado moved one step closer to a coal-free generation mix with a Jan. 4 proposal to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for early closure of the two-unit, 441-MW coal-fired Hayden Generating Station in northwest Colorado. Read More
Colorado regulators on Dec. 23 approved Xcel Energy-Colorado's $110-million transportation-electrification plan, but significantly reduced a late-addition $30-million rebate program to $5 million. Read More
Two advocacy groups on Dec. 15 filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado alleging that the federal government and the U.S. Department of the Interior violated the law by failing to require a Colorado coal mine operator to conduct a thorough analysis of the mine's effects on near… Read More
Members of the Arizona Corporation Commission on Jan. 4 bid farewell to longtime public servants, welcomed new commissioners, and bucked a tradition in electing a new chair during a special swearing-in ceremony held in multiple locations and shared via teleconference. Read More
Renewable-energy developer Pattern Energy Group on Jan. 4 said it began construction on the first of four planned New Mexico wind farms and a 150-mile transmission line that will deliver more than 1,050 MW of clean power throughout the Southwest. Read More
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Jan. 6 approved extending the state's pandemic-related moratorium on utility disconnections for residential customers to coincide with public health orders. The commission also plans a Jan. 19 workshop to address the impact of the policy on smal… Read More
The Senate's changing hands following Democrats' twin victories in Georgia's Jan. 5 special election likely is a boost for President-elect Joe Biden's energy and climate agenda. Read More
