Recent years have not been kind to the California Public Utilities Commission. Two high-profile disasters—the 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, which killed eight, and the shutdown last year of the San Onofre nuclear power plant—have turned the spotlight on its oversight of the state's two biggest utilities. The PUC doesn't come out shining in either
The Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) this week announced steps to review the state's Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program in order to ensure it fully complies with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, designed to prevent waste water associated with oil production from being injected into aquifers
California officials have ordered an emergency shut-down of 11 oil and gas waste injection sites and a review more than 100 others in the state's drought-wracked Central Valley out of fear that companies may have been pumping fracking fluids and other toxic waste into drinking water aquifers there. http://www.propublica.org/article/ca-halts-injection-fracking-waste-warning-may-be-contaminating-aquifers
Federal energy authorities have slashed by 96% the estimated amount of recoverable oil buried in California's vast Monterey Shale deposits, deflating its potential as a national "black gold mine" of petroleum. Just 600 million barrels of oil can be extracted with existing technology, far below the 13.7 billion barrels once thought recoverable from the jumbled
Warm temperatures mean greater demand for power in California as people reach for their air conditioning, and the California Independent System Operator (CaISO) is charged with making sure there's enough electrical power to meet that heightened demand. This year, the state's record drought means the prospects for hydro power in the state are well below
Shooters armed with assault rifles and some knowledge of electrical utilities have prompted new worries on the vulnerability of California's vast power grid. A 2013 attack on an electric substation near San Jose that nearly knocked out Silicon Valley's power supply was initially downplayed as vandalism by Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the facility's owner.
California’s power grid operators issued a rare wintertime “flex alert” today, urging everyone to conserve electricity at least through 10 p.m. The alert was issued by the California Independent System Operator, which runs the transmission grid. Californians were urged to hold off on using heavy appliances like washers, dryers and vacuum cleaners while the alert was
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