Outgoing California Independent System Operator CEO Steve Berberich employed a ship metaphor as he discussed handing over the helm of the organization to Elliot Mainzer, who has headed the Bonneville Power Administration for the past seven years. Mainzer in a matter of days will take over at…

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 1371 nearly six years ago, directing the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Air Resources Board to work together to further the dual goals of minimizing safety hazards associated with gas pipeline leaks and reducing pipeline greenh…

The battle between the California Public Utilities Commission and its recently fired executive director, Alice Stebbins, got even more explosive this week, as Stebbins is filing a whistleblower complaint alleging she was retaliated against for exposing uncollected fees and other mismanagemen…

Like many other California energy stories in the past several years, the rolling blackouts called by the California Independent System Operator on Aug. 14 and 15 produced a swell of public reaction, with some observers saying the state has finally hit the reliability wall with its renewable-…

In December 2019, California Independent System Operator CEO Steve Berberich delivered the ISO Board of Governors a message—the CAISO grid was in danger of short supply during the evening ramp in coming months because of insufficient resources as massive amounts of solar came off the grid. T…

A legal and human resources tumult has erupted at the California Public Utilities Commission at a time when the agency faces unprecedented challenges going into peak power-outage and wildfire season during a pandemic.

Some California energy stakeholders are urging state regulators to keep open a proceeding on Pacific Gas & Electric’s safety culture, saying there are many issues to address with the troubled utility even after it emerged from bankruptcy.

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.

In 1957, Dwight Eisenhower was president, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 1 satellite, the New York Giants baseball team was getting ready to relocate to San Francisco, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly were topping the music charts—and Southern California Gas Co. installed Line 235 West t…

Democratic Party candidate for president Joe Biden's climate action plan released this week drew a huge amount of attention, as the man facing off against President Donald Trump in the November election laid out a $2-trillion spending proposal over four years that would radically change Amer…

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn have heightened interest from federal and state regulators in the financial health of power system entities and led to attempts by some companies to seek regulatory relief in order to be made whole from pandemic-related costs.

Not all participants in PG&E's reorganization process are happy with the final result and the way the proceeding unfolded. A prominent advocate for wildfire victims who was active in the case says the reorganization process gives preference to the short-term financial interests of utilit…

Two new state policies are very likely to be enacted in the next few years, according to a senior California energy regulator: a statewide zero-emission vehicle mandate and a ban on natural gas usage in new buildings.

The chilling and horrific accounts of deaths from the Camp Fire in Butte County recounted in court this week drove home the point that preventing such a horrible tragedy from occurring ever again should be a priority for anybody involved with utility system planning, operation and regulation…

The board of Riverside Public Utilities this week approved an audit of about 10 years of contracts authorized through the Southern California Public Power Authority, an investigation one former RPU employee says could bring to light long-running misappropriation of funds and other irregulari…

The reorganization plan of Pacific Gas & Electric, set to be approved in a few weeks, is a highly complex affair, including multiple funds, funding sources and beneficiaries that are being hashed out in a massive case with many moving parts and billions of dollars at stake. This edition …

Around 100 years ago, electricity service for residents and businesses was plentiful in many North American cities and towns, but less so in rural areas. To introduce rural Americans to the newfangled idea of pumping electrons into their houses through a system of suspended wires and poles—w…

A strong and irritating stench near the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field earlier this month has once again pitted local residents against Southern California Gas Co., which says there were no leaks from its facility. But Porter Ranch residents are convinced that the irritating odor is …

Natural gas usage for power demand has been up significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and analysts say it will be critical to meeting climate goals on the California grid for years to come, although over decades its presence will wane.

The public comment period at the California Public Utilities Commission's May 7 meeting was dominated by discussion of Pacific Gas & Electric, with an atmosphere that could only be described as grim and angry.

A lot has transpired since the April 21 release of the new Michael Moore-produced documentary on the renewables industry, "Planet of the Humans," as the environmentalist community strikes back with rebuttals in blog posts, on social media and elsewhere.

Michael Moore's new documentary on the renewable-energy industry, "Planet of the Humans," is a skillful and passionate work of film that raises tough questions about the renewables industry, but eventually drifts into a wider anti-capitalist and neo-Malthusian message that humans are a scour…

The bankruptcy proceeding of Pacific Gas & Electric is a chance for the state to make some amends for past wrongs inflicted on California electricity consumers, but so far, things don't seem particularly aimed that way.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly transformed global society, and the California energy industry is no exception. The electric grid's status as the backbone of modern life has kept business humming along, although maybe not "as usual."

There is a statistical historical trend showing that hotter and drier California fire seasons have dramatically increased wildfire risk, according to a new report from university researchers that takes a look at the human-caused effects of the change.

The resignation of two wildfire victims from the tort claimants committee in Pacific Gas & Electric's bankruptcy case shows that victims are increasingly fed up with what has been at times a brutal approach by PG&E to victims and their case.

As California moves toward a 100-percent clean power supply, the rapid growth of wind and solar power has many people wondering how a modern, 24-7 society will still have reliable power. After all, wind and solar are only available when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. 

After decades in the slow lane, California's automobile manufacturing market is accelerating with the advent of the electric vehicle, but EV implementation is not without twists and turns as the California Public Utilities Commission lays out plans for how billions of dollars will be investe…

State legislators at a hearing in Sacramento this week were digging for an answer they couldn't get from investor-owned utilities: "When are we safe?"

California's retail electricity rates are high. However, some argue it's not about rates but the bills that electricity customers pay, and the Golden State isn't doing so bad in that department. Coloring the conversation is the fact that energy-efficiency measures, weather, usage and income …

State leaders must fundamentally restructure the way California sets prices for retail electricity if they don't want rates to continue to skyrocket—that was the consensus of an expert panel at a state Assembly hearing Feb. 19 that raised the alarm about rates in the future.

One of two office spaces of MCE Community Choice Energy, more than a decade after it was the first community choice aggregator to be formed, is nestled into downtown San Rafael, a city of about 60,000 residents in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. A visit to the office by C…

Safety practices at investor-owned utilities in California were supposed to have a stronger link to the salaries of their top executives with the passage of AB 1054, wildfire-utility legislation that passed last year. But the plans filed by IOUs with the California Public Utilities Commissio…

Assm. Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) opened a Jan. 22 hearing in Sacramento with a rather grave assessment of the state of California electricity service, mentioning projected capacity shortfalls, high retail rates, power shut-offs and the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas & Electric.

A state Assembly member seeks an audit of the California Public Utilities Commission's oversight of embattled utility Pacific Gas & Electric, the latest development in the Legislature's complicated relationship with PG&E.

A state legislator representing Oakland, along with other Democrats, introduced California's "Green New Deal"—a bill that would accelerate the state's efforts to combat climate change and link those efforts to a sweeping set of reforms tackling some of society's most difficult and long-lasti…

Going into 2020, a need for flexible power resources to ramp up the grid each day as solar generation wanes is largely confined to California, but it is a challenge that will expand across North America over the next decade, according to the entity responsible for the reliability of the bulk…

The public-safety power shut-offs have ended, but the nights are still long . . . and so we present our annual tradition of energy-themed carols to help see everyone through. NewsData will be closed the week of Dec. 23 through Dec. 27, and we will resume our usual publishing schedule the wee…

After a chaotic 2019 fire season in California that had an added layer of difficulty because of widespread power outages, the numbers are in, and it turns out there is some good news—the number of acres burned and the number of fatalities from wildfires were way down compared with last year.

An alleged corruption scandal at the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power is revealing a tangled web that was perhaps weaved when certain parties began to deceive.

In celebration of the Thanksgiving Holiday, California Energy Markets surveyed its staff of energy reporters to find out what energy-related things they are thankful for this season.

A tense and passionate hearing this week at the California State Capitol regarding Pacific Gas & Electric's October power shut-offs made it clear that elected officials have been getting an earful from their constituents.

A diverse collection of stakeholders in California's energy future recently agreed that new approaches and wide-ranging ideas will be needed to confront the challenges the state faces from wildfires and widespread power shut-offs.

This week powerful winds buffeted California, as did widespread power outages, and other utilities joined Pacific Gas & Electric in being blamed for possibly causing destructive fires.

The finding Oct. 24 that a Pacific Gas & Electric transmission tower might be the source of yet another disastrous wildfire, coupled with serious fires in Southern California, made for a brutal week for grid users and utilities, who were already in the grip of a widespread public-safety …

The outrage expressed by Gov. Gavin Newsom over Pacific Gas & Electric's widespread power shut-off last week in Northern California, as well as the response from the state's top energy regulator, showed a curious reaction and allocation of blame for a state-government-approved event that…

Most everybody has had their power go out before, but rarely do you know it's happening ahead of time, as was the case with Pacific Gas & Electric's public-safety power shut-offs this week. However, even with months of lead-up, you don't fully believe it will happen until it does.