Energy

Oil Well Injection May Be Halted in Shallow Aquifers, State Agencies Tell US EPA

Oil companies will probably have to stop injecting their wastewater into 10 Central Valley aquifers that the state has let them use for years, in the latest fallout from a simmering dispute over whether California has adequately protected its groundwater from contamination. The aquifers lie at the heart of a decades-old bureaucratic snafu whose discovery

Trades Unions Call for Biofuel Renewables

Sacramento Bee opinion page “Soapbox” from Johannes Escudero is executive director of the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas. Tim Cremins is director of the California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers. Jose Mejia is director of the State Council of Laborers. State lawmakers have a golden opportunity to correct an unfortunate paradox by negotiating a follow-up budget

By |2015-07-12T15:40:14-07:00July 12th, 2015|Climate Change, Energy, People and Politics|

First Electricity Rate Change in 14 Years

The Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 to approve the most significant restructuring of electricity pricing since the Legislature froze rates for many customers during the 2001 energy crisis. The decision affects electricity customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Although it will affect Yolo County

By |2015-07-12T15:37:37-07:00July 12th, 2015|Energy|

Brown Expands Climate Change Initiative Internationally; Seeks to Avoid “Titanic” Impact & Comments on Pope’s Encyclical

Gov. Jerry Brown delivered an ominous message to deliver at a climate change conference with representatives from across the Americas. In an interview before his trip, the governor said the world needs to make significant changes in order to prevent an irreversible "tipping point" in the environment, and he compared the situation to the sinking

By |2015-07-12T15:27:23-07:00July 12th, 2015|Climate Change, Energy|

Elon Musk Empire Built on Tax Subsidies

Los Angeles entrepreneur Elon Musk has built a multibillion-dollar fortune running companies that make electric cars, sell solar panels and launch rockets into space. And he's built those companies with the help of billions in government subsidies. Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, together have benefited from an estimated

By |2015-06-08T14:21:45-07:00June 8th, 2015|Economy & Jobs, Energy, Funding, People and Politics|

Rooftop Solar Calculator Does Not Shine

Rooftop solar electricity -- what is it truly worth? A search for answers by California utility regulators is generating some prickly computer challenges. An intricate computer model was commissioned last year by the California Public Utilities Commission to analyze the cost-effectiveness of new solar policy proposals. A recent test run of the giant equation found

By |2015-06-08T14:16:54-07:00June 8th, 2015|Energy, People and Politics|

Feds Reject Enviros in Diablo Nuke Plant Shutdown

Federal regulators Thursday turned away a request from environmental activists to idle California's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant to determine if its reactors can withstand strong shaking from nearby earthquake faults. However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision left unresolved questions about whether the agency allowed owner Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to operate outside the

By |2015-05-27T15:31:56-07:00May 27th, 2015|Energy|

CPUC OKs San Diego Gas Power Plant

State regulators on Thursday approved the replacement of 1950s-era Carlsbad power plant and its 400-foot smokestack with a new natural gas facility, over the objections of clean energy advocates who fear fossil fuels are here to stay. The $2.2 billion deal for the new plant is designed to shore up electricity supplies after the early

By |2015-05-27T15:29:59-07:00May 27th, 2015|Energy|

Hydropower Shocks

Hydropower, even with its diminished profile, is important to California's energy mix as a quick, reliable and inexpensive source of electricity — a buffer during moments of peak demand. A reduced supply from dams forces the grid operator to turn to more expensive sources of power, such as natural gas, which also enlarges the state's

By |2015-05-27T15:28:01-07:00May 27th, 2015|Energy, Water Quality & Conservation|
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