By Luis Amezcua and V. John White | San Francisco Chronicle Link to article Last summer, failures and heat exhaustion at gas power plants contributed to California’s first non-wildfire-related blackout in 19 years. In the days following, when temperatures remained brutally high and California’s power supply dangerously low, Southern California Edison and its customers united […]
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Mayor Garcetti announces findings of historic 100 percent renewable energy study
March 24, 2021
Portland, Ore. — In response to today’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruling on the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) “Environmental Redispatch and No Negative Pricing policy,” Rachel Shimshak, executive director of non-profit advocacy group Renewable Northwest Project, issued the following statement: We are pleased that the Commission has ruled on this issue and has determined that BPA’s “Environmental Redispatch and No Negative Pricing Policy” is discriminatory. With these questions answered, Renewable Northwest Project is eager to continue working with BPA and regional partners toward solutions to over-generation that are economical, equitable and good for the environment.
California scrambles to improve electric grid to avoid summer blackouts
March 23, 2021
By Martin Wisckol | The OCR Link to article Last year’s heatwave blackouts could be repeated unless steps are taken. State agencies and electric utilities are scrambling to shore up power supplies in hopes of avoiding the rolling blackouts that left 800,000 California homes and businesses without power during a record-breaking heatwave last August. That […]
The race is on to strike ‘white gold’ at California’s Salton Sea
March 18, 2021
By Sammy Roth | Los Angeles Times Link to article This is the March 18, 2021, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. There are few places in California, maybe anywhere, weirder or more wonderful than the Salton Sea. It’s a sparkling blue […]
Environment Experts To Newsom: Now’s Your Moment
January 26, 2021
By Ezra David Romero | CapRadio Link to article Back in September, while wildfires raged and the pandemic wore on, California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a virtual press conference to announce a bold new climate goal. By 2035, he said, all new cars and trucks sold in California would be zero-emission, in order to seriously […]
California’s Biggest Fossil Fuel Disaster: How Gov. Newsom Can Make Sure It Never Happens Again
December 16, 2020
In October 2015, a leak at SoCalGas’ Aliso Canyon gas storage field caused enormous amounts of gas to seep into nearby Porter Ranch. For more than four months, America’s largest gas leak and greenhouse gas emission disaster drove Californians from their homes. Five years later, the gas that poisoned the residents of Porter Ranch is […]
Geothermal energy is poised for a big breakout
October 21, 2020
By David Roberts | Vox Media Link to article “An engineering problem that, when solved, solves energy.” Geothermal power is the perpetual also-ran of renewable energy, chugging along in the background for decades, never quite breaking out of its little niche, forever causing energy experts to say, “Oh, yeah, geothermal … what’s up with that?” […]
Recurring Problem Forced Diablo Canyon Nuke Unit Offline
October 20, 2020
By Elizabeth McCarthy| California Current Link to article The untimely Oct. 15 shut down of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant’s Unit 2 is the second malfunction in a critical component of its electric generator, which was just rebuilt. In July, the same Pacific Gas & Electric unit was forced offline because then, as now, the […]
California needs to accelerate efforts to achieve clean energy goals
October 2, 2020
By Guest Commentary; Phil Angelides | CalMatters Link to article As our state has suffered through a summer of record-breaking heat waves, blackouts and wildfires, Gov. Gavin Newsom has rightly pegged what’s principally behind these challenges: “If you are in denial about climate change,” he said recently, “come to California.” In the wake of wildfires […]
