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6 days ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
In a little more than a year, the number of California customers who are in debt to an investor-owned utility increased by about 1 million and the collective amount owed doubled. At the end of November 2023, more than 2.4 million IOU customers were in arrears by more than $1.1 billion (California Energy Markets No. 1776).
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6 days ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
Advocates for utility rate reform are supporting a slate of bills in the California Legislature that if passed would curb rate increases or reduce customer utility bills, cut utility companies’ profit margins, and alter energy infrastructure financing. The Utility Reform Network in January launched the Campaign for Affordable Power, a three-year initiative that supports six current legislative efforts in the state’s Senate and Assembly.
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1 week ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
Energy regulators on April 24 approved two midterm reliability contracts for an investor-owned utility to procure 500 MW of nameplate battery energy storage capacity. The California Public Utilities Commission approved a resolution for Pacific Gas & Electric to enter into 15-year contracts with a third party that will own, construct and operate the facilities. kAm%96 AC@;64ED H:== 36 56G6=@A65 3J pJA2 !@H6C s6G6=@A>6?E[ H9:49 @H?D E96 |2C:4: 2?5 $2?
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1 week ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
California’s first solar canal pilot project is halfway completed now, giving researchers the ability to study the potential integration of solar energy and water conservation. “Data is starting to be collected” and “there are sensors in place” to collect key performance indicators as they relate to water evaporation, algae growth and other metrics, Robin Raj, co-founder and chief creative officer for Solar AquaGrid, said in an interview with California Energy Markets.
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1 week ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
An investor-owned utility and a southern California city are battling over who should pay about $190 million associated with replacing 60-year-old undersea cables and other electrical equipment that serve oil and natural gas facilities on four artificial islands off Long Beach. Southern California Edison on Dec.
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2 weeks ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
A program that calls on dispatchable customer load reduction and backup generation operations during extreme events is expanding in scope and increasing energy reliability in California, according to state energy regulators. The fourth edition of the guidelines for the Demand Side Grid Support program, approved by the California Energy Commission on April 10, expands enrollment opportunities and new technologies [22-RENEW-01].
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2 weeks ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
Guidelines under development to establish a new program that would expedite the undergrounding of utility distribution infrastructure are raising questions and concerns from consumer advocates. Senate Bill 884, which passed in September 2022, requires the California Public Utilities Commission to establish guidelines for any large electrical corporation to participate in a 10-year distribution-infrastructure undergrounding plan to improve safety and reliability.
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3 weeks ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
A building-decarbonization amendment proposal filed with California energy regulators would modify previous rulings and decisions to encourage building electrification among low-income residential homeowners and small businesses. A proposed decision filed to the California Public Utilities Commission on March 26 would revise a decision approved in December 2023 that eliminated electric-line extension subsidies for new construction that uses mixed-fuel projects [D23-12-037].
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4 weeks ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
Vast tidal energy resource potential exists within 10 nautical miles of California’s shoreline, but various limitations and constraints mean the likelihood of incorporating the resource in a meaningful way could be found in smaller applications of wave energy closer to shore, a draft consultant report says. It’s a concept that Jason Busch, executive director of Pacific Ocean Energy Trust, said he agrees with. kAmp?
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4 weeks ago | 
newsdata.com | Anne Ernst
Pacific Gas & Electric filed an application on March 28 with the California Public Utilities Commission to recover $410 million for the 2026 calendar year for operating costs and other expenses related to the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. PG&E’s forecast costs for 2026 include more than $1.3 billion for nuclear plant operating costs, statutory fees and substitution capacity expenses.
