Increasing electrification could reduce U.S. energy system costs by nearly $800 billion through reduction of fuel and operational expenditures in the building, transportation and industrial sectors, but overall savings will depend heavily on the pace of technological developments, according …
Tackling climate change, clearing the path for more renewables and integrating new technologies into a rapidly changing electric grid are the primary hopes for California energy leaders as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris take office.
Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed in part to two new felony probation conditions that could result in larger public-safety power shut-offs in its territory.
The Silicon Valley Clean Energy board of directors on Jan. 21 approved the community choice aggregator's Building Decarbonization Joint Action Plan, which it says "defines a set of prioritized actions for the agency and its members to reduce carbon pollution from buildings."
Industry groups are pressing the incoming Biden administration to support the clean-energy sector in its plan to recover from the economic downturn wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's new proposed 2021-2022 budget includes billions of dollars to mitigate wildfires, address climate change, and accelerate adoption and usage of electric vehicles in the state.
Bulldozing land in the Mojave Desert for the construction of a utility-scale solar facility decreased the population of the queen butterfly within the facility's footprint, researchers said in a December report to the California Energy Commission.
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.
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.
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…
Pacific Gas & Electric completed the sale of its Kern Canyon hydroelectric project to Kern and Tule Hydro LLC.
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.
The year 2020 has been a difficult one for society and the economy, and the energy industry in California and the Southwest is no exception. The top 10 energy-related stories of 2020 in the Golden State and throughout the Southwest reflect many of the challenges that 2020 brought, although n…
Pacific Gas & Electric submitted for regulatory approval six lithium-ion battery energy storage projects totaling 387 MW of capacity. The six project agreements are the result of a round of requests for offers launched by the utility in July.
The California Independent System Operator's Department of Market Monitoring said it agrees with many of the key findings in an Oct. 6 joint review of the mid-August power outages by CAISO and state agencies.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria rejected San Diego Gas & Electric's bid to be the city's gas and electric supplier, a contract it has held for a century.
Scientists at national laboratories and an industry research institute are studying potential weaknesses of spent-fuel storage casks currently in use at the nation's nuclear power plants, with the expectation that they could be in service at the plants longer than originally anticipated.
The Orange County Power Authority at its Dec. 22 meeting continued working on nuts-and-bolts issues designed to push the nascent community choice aggregator closer to being fully operational.
Multiple studies suggest California will need to add between 45 and 55 GW of long-duration energy storage to meet its goal of zero-carbon electricity by 2045.
Toyota Motor North America announced Dec. 10 that the first two fuel-cell electric heavy-duty Class 8 trucks built under the Zero and Near Zero Emissions Freight Forwarding project using its technology are ready for delivery to customers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Five Orange County cities began to work toward procuring their own electricity with the inaugural meeting of the Orange County Power Authority Dec. 16.
The California Independent System Operator said Dec. 9 it is pausing amending its Business Practice Manual for Reliability Requirements until Aug. 1, 2021, according to the written decision of the grid operator's executive appeals committee.
The Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners awarded a contract to EDF Renewables North America to construct a microgrid, the port announced Dec. 7.
Electric vehicles will significantly increase California's peak electricity demand—in one scenario by 8,500 MW—over the next 10 years, while vehicle gasoline consumption is also projected to increase this decade, the California Energy Commission said in a Dec. 3 workshop.
San Jose elected officials on Dec. 1 voted to extend the city's ban on natural gas usage in new buildings, with a controversial exemption for distributed energy resources until the end of 2024.
Energy officials in California are trying to help make the state's aging natural gas-fired power plants more efficient, but some industry experts at a workshop this week questioned whether investing in the gas plant fleet, which is expected to generate less power over the coming decades, is …
There are sufficient resources nationwide to maintain reliable electricity supply, but there are fuel supply concerns in two areas—California and New England, the nation's reliability organization said in a new report.
A "comprehensive reform" of resource-adequacy practices, dealing with increased generation variability, and integrating new technologies are the main goals outlined in the California Independent System Operator's three-year roadmap, the grid operator said.
Southern California Edison is considering public-safety power shut-offs for customers in portions of five counties during Thanksgiving and/or Black Friday.
The continental United States is well-prepared for its winter heating needs with 3,920 Bcf of natural gas in storage, which is the third-greatest amount recorded at the end of a storage season and the greatest amount since 2016, when there was 3,977 Bcf in storage, according to the U.S. Ener…
A research study this month found that general financial incentives for home solar panel systems can exacerbate solar power system inequity and push panels into higher-income areas.
Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric have created a Hydrogen Blending Demonstration Program, the companies said Nov. 23.
Ken Dragoon, Renewable Hydrogen Alliance founder and executive director, announced Nov. 20 he will be stepping down from his leadership role.
Two large California investor-owned utility holding companies joined forces with 26 other companies and carmakers to form a new trade association to lobby for 100-percent zero-emission vehicle sales in the U.S. by 2030.
The California Department of Transportation plans a six-month pilot program to gather information on alternatives to the per-gallon gasoline tax that currently funds 80 percent of California's road and highway maintenance and repair. California leads the nation in fuel-efficient and zero-emi…
Sempra Energy subsidiaries moved forward with the construction of a liquefied natural gas export facility in Baja California, Mexico, designed to move Western natural gas to markets in Mexico and the Pacific, with a final investment decision on the project announced Nov. 17.
The Southwest Power Pool said it has received letters of intent from several utilities to possibly place their Western facilities into the regional transmission organization after a study that found the move would produce $49 million a year in savings.
The construction of five hybrid microgrids at municipal sites in the city of Camarillo is progressing after its council unanimously approved the concept.
Newly compiled data on utility-scale solar installations in the United States shows solar generation will grow as prices decrease, including across the California Independent System Operator grid.
It would take more than 18 months for the clean-energy sector to return to pre-COVID employment levels at the current rate of job growth, according to a Nov. 12 analysis of unemployment data.
Voters in California and across the Southwest voted Nov. 3 on a series of energy-related ballot measures and elected offices. Berkeley, Calif. residents rejected increasing taxes to fund a Climate Action Equity Fund while the neighboring town of Albany did the opposite. Long Beach voters app…
Mary Nichols, Chair of the California Air Resources Board, discussed her pending departure Nov. 4 with participants in a joint meeting of CARB, the California Transportation Commission, and the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
A trio of state agencies have one mammoth task in addition to their routine duties: finding solutions for climate change, housing, and transportation. But some stakeholders are frustrated that there is more talk than action on those issues.
Clean Power Alliance on Nov. 5 approved its first local solar power and battery storage project, adding 56 MW of solar generation capacity and 28 MW of battery storage to its power supply, all to be installed within its service borders.
The California Independent System Operator on Nov. 6 announced a reorganization of its executive level leadership structure that will bring several key functions together under the newly-created position of senior vice president and chief operating officer. Mark Rothleder, currently CAISO’s …
Resilience and economics are driving energy innovation in tribal communities, but bringing projects to completion can be particularly challenging as tribes and disadvantaged groups in the U.S. often lack access to funds and resources that could move them forward.
Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric both conducted public-safety power shut-offs this week due to elevated wildfire conditions, although virtually all customers had been restored as of Oct. 28.
A distribution line owned by Pacific Gas & Electric experienced a "last gasp" event on the day the deadly Zogg Fire started and near the origin of the fire, according to an Oct. 26 filing from PG&E to the utility's felony probation judge. But PG&E has not determined what role, if…
California Resources Corp. announced Oct. 27 that it had successfully completed financial restructuring and is moving forward with a new board of directors and new common stock.
Geothermal, demand-side management and distributed resource integration will be critical to achieving California's greenhouse gas-reduction and renewable-energy targets for 2030 and 2045 as required by 2019's SB 100, panelists said during an Oct. 20 discussion on flexible zero-emission resou…
