The California Independent System Operator launched a new initiative that will allow random tests to set a proxy demand resource's effective flexible capacity.
North American electric grid operators are well prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, according to responses to a Level 2 alert issued by the national reliability organization. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation said the alert went to industry on March 10, with a March 20 resp…
Investor-owned utilities in California should take steps to implement a state order supporting the development of microgrids before the 2020 wildfire season, state regulators said.
The Tuolumne Utilities District and Pacific Gas & Electric are in exclusive negotiations to transfer the 2-MW Phoenix Hydroelectric Project [P-1061] from PG&E to TUD ownership, according to a March 10 announcement. Under the terms of the proposed agreement, TUD would acquire the Phoe…
A popular effort that last year brought together utility workers from around the nation to extend electric power to hundreds of Navajo Nation homes is another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least temporarily.
Federal energy regulators on March 17 once again rejected arguments by the California Public Utilities Commission and others that a 50-basis-point incentive adder on Pacific Gas & Electric's transmission rate for membership in an independent system operator is not just and reasonable. Th…
A new test has proved that large, utility-scale wind power plants can provide important services that are currently supplied by conventional thermal generators, the California Independent System Operator said.
The Intermountain Power Agency on March 10 awarded Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems a contract for two power trains for the Intermountain Power Plant in Delta, Utah. The power trains are being specifically designed to allow the plant to make the transition from coal to natural gas, then from…
The California Independent System Operator announced March 4 it is immediately changing its operations "to protect the health of the company's staff, and prevent possible disruption to critical business operations" due to risks presented by the novel coronavirus. Until April 1 or until furth…
EDF Renewables North America on Feb. 19 cut the ribbon on a comprehensive microgrid system at its San Diego headquarters. It includes a 209-kW-peak solar carport, a 182-kWp solar rooftop system, a 280-kW/538-kWh battery storage system, and 43 electric-vehicle charging stations. The company c…
Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) on Feb. 19 introduced SB 1139, a bill that would prevent utilities from taking tax deductions on expenses incurred from safety-violation penalties issued by state regulators.
Devil's Canyon Brewing Company, a small craft brewery based in San Carlos, is using CiCi—a plug-and-play carbon-capture technology from Austin-based Earthly Labs—to capture as much as 100,000 pounds of expended carbon dioxide a year, which it is reusing to carbonate and package beer.
Pacific Gas & Electric on Feb. 7 applied to recover about $900 million in wildfire mitigation costs that the bankrupt utility spent in 2017, 2018 and 2019—years in which the largest wildfires in California's history occurred [A20-02-003]. PG&E argued it should be allowed to recover t…
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Feb. 10 released a new executive directive that outlines sweeping action plans aimed at implementing L.A.'s Green New Deal.
Trade associations representing developers of renewables projects and other generation types said they are "encouraged" that bankrupt utility Pacific Gas & Electric has promised to honor $42 billion in power-purchase agreements it had signed, now part of its reorganization.
Pacific Gas & Electric on Feb. 7 announced that former Alcoa Vice President Francisco Benavides will be the utility's new chief safety officer. Benavides will report directly to PG&E CEO Bill Johnson and will start his position on March 9. He served as vice president of environmental…
The California Independent System Operator showed a $2.9-million loss for the fourth quarter, primarily due to the depreciation of assets, a noncash expenditure. Operating income before depreciation is $2.9 million for the quarter and $34 million for the year, the ISO said.
Peninsula Clean Energy is now supplying its customers with solar energy generated by the 200-MW Wright Solar Project, which it says is the largest renewable-energy installation ever built for a community choice aggregator, according to a Jan. 22 announcement. The aggregator has a 25-year pow…
A fourth person has entered a guilty plea in an ongoing, billion-dollar federal fraud case purportedly involving sales and loans of mobile solar generation units.
Robert Kondziolka was unanimously voted in as the newest member of the Western Energy Imbalance Market Governing Body at its Jan. 23 meeting. His appointment begins Feb. 1. Kondziolka retired as the Salt River Project’s management consultant for grid resiliency and security in December. In a…
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved the 450-MW Quartzite Solar Project in Riverside County, one of a handful of new solar and wind projects, as well as a geothermal facility, planned throughout the West in the near future.
Calgren Dairy Fuels and Southern California Gas Co. now have four additional Central Valley dairies sending cow-manure-generated methane to Calgren's biogas operation in Pixley, the companies announced Jan. 13. The methane is further processed into renewable natural gas, which is injected in…
To mark the end of his first year in office, a coalition of environmental, public-health and other advocacy groups sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter urging him "to take bolder action" and asking him to declare a climate emergency.
The California Independent System Operator is making some changes at the senior level, promoting Neil Millar, who had been serving as executive director of infrastructure development, to the position of vice president of transmission planning and infrastructure development, where he will ove…
Public Utilities Commission of Nevada member Hayley Williamson on Jan. 1 was elevated by Gov. Steve Sisolak to the role of chairwoman of the commission. Sisolak appointed Williamson to the three-member PUCN in April 2019, but Williamson has worked at the commission since 2013, serving as sen…
Xcel Energy and three other Colorado utilities plan to join the Western Energy Imbalance Market operated by the California Independent System Operator in 2021, saying it will help them meet clean-energy goals and provide the most benefit to customers compared with alternatives.
Elizaveta Malashenko, Deputy Executive Director of Safety and Enforcement Policy at the California Public Utilities Commission, is leaving the job, CPUC officials said at the commission's Dec. 19 meeting. Malashenko was a safety panelist at energy committee hearings at the State Legislature …
Monterey Bay Community Power made a significant expansion, adding 11 jurisdictions in two counties following a Dec. 4 board vote.
The California Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 11 issued a proposed decision that would modify its Self-Generation Incentive Program to support renewable-energy and grid-resiliency projects, consistent with legislation passed in 2018. The proposed decision authorizes ratepayer collection…
Southern California Gas Co. violated 330 requirements of the state's Public Utilities Code during the Aliso Canyon well-failure incident in 2015, state energy regulators said Dec. 5.
The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, reacting to a lawsuit filed against the utility by the federal government, says it does not believe it caused the Creek Fire that occurred in December 2017. The government's lawsuit against LADWP alleges its equipment caused the fire and that …
Certain system performance data issued by the California Independent System Operator has been inaccurate since late September, with no clear indication of when or whether it will be available again.
Oakland International Airport officials on Nov. 27 were investigating the cause of a power outage that affected terminal and flight operations the prior evening, as Thanksgiving holiday travel began in earnest. Power to the terminal was fully restored at about 10 p.m. Nov. 26 and operations …
Pacific Gas & Electric on Nov. 21 had restored power to "essentially all" of about 50,000 customer accounts it had de-energized the previous day due to high-fire-risk conditions, after the utility dramatically scaled back the scope of the outage.
The California Energy Commission is funding a new program to speed the commercialization of clean-energy technologies. The California Test Bed initiative is designed to reduce the stumbling blocks of time, cost and bureaucracy most entrepreneurs face when trying to bring breakthrough concept…
Southern California Edison reached agreements with 23 public entities to settle claims arising from three disasters in 2017 and 2018. The utility on Nov. 13 said the parties, which include cities, counties and special districts, reached the settlements in principle totaling $360 million afte…
Southern California Gas Co., the Retirement Housing Foundation and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power said they have completed a two-year, $1-million energy-efficiency project at Angelus Plaza in downtown Los Angeles. The efficiency upgrades are estimated to save more than $150,…
Pattern Energy and Pattern Development—companies known for developing renewable-energy projects in the western U.S.—will be acquired by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a transaction valued at $6.1 billion.
The Arizona Corporation Commission at a Nov. 6 meeting approved Arizona Public Service's application for a certificate of environmental compatibility authorizing a new, 1.45-mile, 230-kV transmission line to serve data-center projects underway in the town of Goodyear, west of Phoenix [L-0000…
Increased natural gas cycling due to higher penetration of intermittent renewables on the grid is not increasing air pollution levels, according to a recent data review by a Union of Concerned Scientists analyst.
Salt River Project, operator of the 2,250-MW coal-fired Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, said the plant will close before its lease with the Navajo Nation expires Dec. 22.
Northern California entities interested in purchasing Pacific Gas & Electric distribution assets continue to submit bids to the bankrupt utility, the latest of which is a $300-million offer on Oct. 18 by Valley Clean Energy.
The Arizona Corporation Commission at a brief meeting Oct. 22 approved a certificate of environmental compatibility for a 12-mile, 345-kV gen-tie line, two new substations and one new switching station in Northern Arizona [L-21080A-19-0171-00182]. The facilities are intended to connect a pla…
Southern California Gas Co. said it "continues to assess conditions" at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility following the Saddleridge Fire, which affected the community of Porter Ranch near Los Angeles.
Southern California Edison continues executing and warning of potential public-safety power shut-offs throughout its service area.
Southern California Edison is soliciting bids from electricity providers for its demand-response resource-adequacy program.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 declined to hear San Diego Gas & Electric's appeal of prior rulings that prevented it from collecting from its customers $379 million resulting from wildfires that occurred in 2007.
Pacific Gas & Electric could be nearing a settlement with state safety officials on its role in sparking multiple wildfires that were part of the October 2017 North Bay fire siege, according to filings at the California Public Utilities Commission.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 2 signed 22 bills aimed at wildfire prevention, mitigation and response, reflecting recommendations of the Governor's Strike Force Report issued in June.
The U.S. Trustee overseeing PG&E's bankruptcy proceeding is raising concerns about exorbitant fees charged by attorneys representing various parties in the reorganization process.
