ReportWire

Tag: pge

  • Train derailment causes large PG&E power outage in Stockton

    [ad_1]

    A train derailment Monday morning led to an outage affecting as many as 17,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in Stockton, authorities said.”At about 8 a.m. PST today, approximately three cars derailed in Union Pacific’s Stockton Rail Yard, knocking over a powerline, a statement from Union Pacific read. “No one was injured, and no hazardous material was involved. The utility company has been notified.”PG&E said 17,000 customers were initially without power. That number was down to 100 customers by 3:30 p.m. PG&E said it expected the majority of those customers to have their power restored by 5:30 p.m. There was a separate outage at or near the French Camp area affecting about 1,500 customers. The San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services said the three cars that derailed released soybean oil. KCRA 3’s Maricela De La Cruz was at the scene, where a power tower appeared to be folded over. She noted that the power lines came down across Clayton Avenue and across nearby train tracks. A PG&E spokesperson told De La Cruz that crews need to ground the wires before final repairs are made. It’s not clear how long the repairs will take. See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    STOCKTON, Calif. —

    A train derailment Monday morning led to an outage affecting as many as 17,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in Stockton, authorities said.

    “At about 8 a.m. PST today, approximately three cars derailed in Union Pacific’s Stockton Rail Yard, knocking over a powerline, a statement from Union Pacific read. “No one was injured, and no hazardous material was involved. The utility company has been notified.”

    PG&E said 17,000 customers were initially without power.

    That number was down to 100 customers by 3:30 p.m. PG&E said it expected the majority of those customers to have their power restored by 5:30 p.m.

    This content is imported from Twitter.
    You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

    There was a separate outage at or near the French Camp area affecting about 1,500 customers.

    The San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services said the three cars that derailed released soybean oil.

    KCRA 3’s Maricela De La Cruz was at the scene, where a power tower appeared to be folded over. She noted that the power lines came down across Clayton Avenue and across nearby train tracks.

    A PG&E spokesperson told De La Cruz that crews need to ground the wires before final repairs are made.

    It’s not clear how long the repairs will take.

    See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Thousands temporarily lose power in Tuolumne County following transformer explosion, officials say

    [ad_1]

    Tens of thousands of residents were without power across Tuolumne County due to an explosion near a power station, according to the sheriff’s office. No injuries have been reported.Just after 5 p.m. Friday, the PG&E outage map showed nearly 30,000 without power across the county, including 1,957 households in Sonora and 27,773 households in unincorporated areas. By 6 p.m., power had been restored to about half the affected population, with 15,420 customers without power across the county.Leer en español. By 7 p.m., power was restored for most customers in the area.The Tuolumne County Fire Department initially said its crews responded to a reported lithium-ion battery explosion at Pacific Ultrapower near Chinese Camp around 4:15 p.m. However, the sheriff’s office later said crews determined the explosion was connected with a transformer at ENGIE, a facility neighboring Ultrapower.In a news release, ENGIE said its Sierra Battery Storage facility experienced an electrical issue around 4 p.m. and some electrical circuits and equipment tripped at the facility. The company said there was no fire on-site. Steve Gross, president of Jamestown Energy, told KCRA 3 that the incident was not at their facility, but at an adjacent facility where there is an energy storage project with lithium-ion batteries. Gross said that the incident knocked out the main line, affecting Jamestown Energy’s ability to send out power.Cal Fire crews also responded this evening. A battalion chief said they are always on high alert when they hear the word “explosion.””We were told that there was black smoke and an explosion. And after investigating, we noticed that it was a transformer that had exploded. And from there we just mitigated the cause of it,” Jeffrey Cox, Cal Fire TCU battalion chief, said.Although there was no fire when they arrived, Cox said, the crews assisted in evacuating the facility to ensure everyone’s safety.The fire department said localized evacuations of the plant were conducted and all employees are accounted for. Those evacuation orders have since been lifted. The extent of the damage is unclear. The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office said there were no road closures or additional evacuations associated with the incident, but urged the public to avoid the area. The outage map shows the power loss was reported just before 4:30 p.m. Friday. ENGIE said its facility has been disconnected from the grid while technical experts are investigating the cause of the incident. KCRA 3 has reached out to PG&E for more information. Track PG&E power outages here. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    TUOLUMNE, Calif. —

    Tens of thousands of residents were without power across Tuolumne County due to an explosion near a power station, according to the sheriff’s office. No injuries have been reported.

    Just after 5 p.m. Friday, the PG&E outage map showed nearly 30,000 without power across the county, including 1,957 households in Sonora and 27,773 households in unincorporated areas. By 6 p.m., power had been restored to about half the affected population, with 15,420 customers without power across the county.

    Leer en español.

    By 7 p.m., power was restored for most customers in the area.

    The Tuolumne County Fire Department initially said its crews responded to a reported lithium-ion battery explosion at Pacific Ultrapower near Chinese Camp around 4:15 p.m. However, the sheriff’s office later said crews determined the explosion was connected with a transformer at ENGIE, a facility neighboring Ultrapower.

    In a news release, ENGIE said its Sierra Battery Storage facility experienced an electrical issue around 4 p.m. and some electrical circuits and equipment tripped at the facility. The company said there was no fire on-site.

    Steve Gross, president of Jamestown Energy, told KCRA 3 that the incident was not at their facility, but at an adjacent facility where there is an energy storage project with lithium-ion batteries. Gross said that the incident knocked out the main line, affecting Jamestown Energy’s ability to send out power.

    Cal Fire crews also responded this evening. A battalion chief said they are always on high alert when they hear the word “explosion.”

    “We were told that there was black smoke and an explosion. And after investigating, we noticed that it was a transformer that had exploded. And from there we just mitigated the cause of it,” Jeffrey Cox, Cal Fire TCU battalion chief, said.

    Although there was no fire when they arrived, Cox said, the crews assisted in evacuating the facility to ensure everyone’s safety.

    The fire department said localized evacuations of the plant were conducted and all employees are accounted for. Those evacuation orders have since been lifted.

    The extent of the damage is unclear.

    The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office said there were no road closures or additional evacuations associated with the incident, but urged the public to avoid the area.

    The outage map shows the power loss was reported just before 4:30 p.m. Friday.

    ENGIE said its facility has been disconnected from the grid while technical experts are investigating the cause of the incident.

    KCRA 3 has reached out to PG&E for more information.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Fire at PG&E substation in Saratoga leaves 21,000 customers without power

    [ad_1]

    A fire at a PG&E substation in Saratoga has left about 21,000 customers in the South Bay without power Wednesday morning, according to the utility.

    The fire occurred at about 8:25 a.m. and has since been contained, PG&E officials said on social media shortly after 10 a.m.

    PG&E said its “leaders are on-site supporting crews & first responders” but did not share any other information about the fire.

    A separate PG&E substation fire in San Francisco last weekend left nearly a third of the utility’s customers in the city without power at the peak of the outage Saturday, and some customers did not have power restored until early Tuesday.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • El Dorado Hills residents prepare for strong winds and possible power outages

    [ad_1]

    Residents of El Dorado Hills are preparing for strong winds expected to last through Christmas Day, with concerns about potential power outages in the area. Josh McGee expressed confidence in his Christmas-themed skeleton decoration, saying, “I got faith in Skully. He’s made it through a couple of winters with us already, so I have faith in him. The hat might be gone, but we’ll get it back.”McGee’s giant skeleton sits in the front yard of his El Dorado Hills home wearing a Santa hat and scarf.His neighbor Tom Molyneux-Elliot said that he is reconsidering his decision to put out the trash early, saying, “I might be picking up garbage in the morning.”Despite the subtle jokes from these two, the anticipated strong gusts have put residents on high alert for possible power outages. “I have generators and everything, but, you know, PG&E is notoriously unreliable during this kind of situation,” McGee said. “They don’t have the best track record of keeping power on.”Molyneux-Elliot added, “We used to lose power a lot, but the last couple of years, it’s been better. Hopefully, that won’t happen again this year. But I know up the hill it definitely gets a little worse.”PG&E has assured residents that they are fully staffed and have crews ready to respond to any outages caused by the high winds. Jeff Weeks from Ace Hardware at Town Center reported a steady flow of customers preparing for the storm. “We didn’t anticipate quite the run on things we have here,” he said. The lighting section shelves were bare on Tuesday night, and Weeks mentioned that the store plans to stay open on Christmas Eve for those who might need supplies during the storm.”Come in early, get the things that you think you’re going to need,” he advised. He emphasized the importance of being prepared with “generators, candles, lights, flashlights, huge things, batteries, we have all those kinds of things.”See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. —

    Residents of El Dorado Hills are preparing for strong winds expected to last through Christmas Day, with concerns about potential power outages in the area.

    Josh McGee expressed confidence in his Christmas-themed skeleton decoration, saying, “I got faith in Skully. He’s made it through a couple of winters with us already, so I have faith in him. The hat might be gone, but we’ll get it back.”

    McGee’s giant skeleton sits in the front yard of his El Dorado Hills home wearing a Santa hat and scarf.

    His neighbor Tom Molyneux-Elliot said that he is reconsidering his decision to put out the trash early, saying, “I might be picking up garbage in the morning.”

    Despite the subtle jokes from these two, the anticipated strong gusts have put residents on high alert for possible power outages.

    “I have generators and everything, but, you know, PG&E is notoriously unreliable during this kind of situation,” McGee said. “They don’t have the best track record of keeping power on.”

    Molyneux-Elliot added, “We used to lose power a lot, but the last couple of years, it’s been better. Hopefully, that won’t happen again this year. But I know up the hill it definitely gets a little worse.”

    PG&E has assured residents that they are fully staffed and have crews ready to respond to any outages caused by the high winds.

    Jeff Weeks from Ace Hardware at Town Center reported a steady flow of customers preparing for the storm.

    “We didn’t anticipate quite the run on things we have here,” he said.

    The lighting section shelves were bare on Tuesday night, and Weeks mentioned that the store plans to stay open on Christmas Eve for those who might need supplies during the storm.

    “Come in early, get the things that you think you’re going to need,” he advised.

    He emphasized the importance of being prepared with “generators, candles, lights, flashlights, huge things, batteries, we have all those kinds of things.”

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • PGE Urges Customers To Prepare For Possible Power Outages Ahead Of Strong Christmas Eve Windstorm – KXL

    [ad_1]

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland General Electric is urging customers across its service area to prepare for possible power outages as a significant windstorm is expected to move into the region on Wednesday, Christmas Eve.

    Meteorologists are tracking a stronger storm system than last week’s weather event, with forecasts calling for sustained winds of 20 to 45 miles per hour and gusts reaching up to 65 miles per hour. The storm is expected to affect PGE’s entire service territory and is part of a larger weather system impacting the West Coast from California to Washington.

    According to PGE, the windstorm is forecast to arrive Wednesday morning and last through mid-afternoon, potentially creating hazardous conditions and increasing the risk of downed trees and power lines.

    With holiday travel and celebrations already underway, the utility said it is taking proactive steps to prepare for possible outages. Crews have been staffed and materials staged at line operation centers to help restore power as quickly as possible if outages occur. PGE meteorologists are also continuing to monitor the developing system.

    The utility is encouraging customers to prepare now by assembling an outage kit that includes flashlights or headlamps, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, a car charger for electronic devices, a 72-hour supply of food and water, necessary medications, extra blankets, and bottled water for both people and pets.

    PGE also emphasized safety, particularly around downed power lines. Customers are advised to stay at least 50 feet away from any downed lines and to always assume they are energized, even if there are no visible sparks. Anyone who encounters a downed power line should call 911 and then report it to PGE.

    Generator safety is another concern during outages. PGE warns that portable generators should only be operated outdoors, away from doors, windows, and garages, to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. The utility also cautions against overloading generators, using improper extension cords, or attempting to “back feed” power into a home’s electrical system.

    Customers experiencing outages can get updates or report issues through multiple channels, including PGE’s outage map online, the PGE mobile app, text alerts, or by calling the company’s automated outage reporting system.

    More safety information and winter preparedness tips are available on PGE’s website.

    More about:

    [ad_2]

    Jordan Vawter

    Source link

  • Dramatic explosion caught on video destroys homes, injures six, officials say

    [ad_1]

    A natural gas line leak triggered a dramatic explosion that destroyed a Bay Area home on Thursday, injuring six people and damaging several other properties.

    At least one person was inside the home before it was leveled in the blast. The individual managed to escape without injury, but six others were hurt, including three who suffered serious injuries, Alameda County Fire Department spokesperson Cheryl Hurd said.

    “It was a chaotic scene,” Hurd said. “There was fire and debris and smoke everywhere, power lines down, people self-evacuated from the home. … Someone was on the sidewalk with severe burns.”

    The leak started after a third-party construction crew working Thursday morning in the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard in Hayward struck a Pacific Gas and Electric underground natural gas line, according to a statement from the utility.

    Fire crews were first dispatched to the scene at 7:46 a.m. after PG&E reported a suspected natural gas leak, Hurd said. PG&E officials were already on scene when fire engines arrived, and reportedly told firefighters their assistance was not needed, Hurd said.

    Utility workers attempted to isolate the damaged line, but gas was leaking from multiple locations. Workers shut off the flow of gas at about 9:25 a.m., PG&E said in a statement.

    Fire crews were called back to the same address less than two hours later, where at least 75 firefighters encountered heavy flames and a thick column of smoke. Surrounding homes sustained damage from the blast and falling debris. Three buildings were damaged on two separate properties, according to fire officials.

    Six people were taken to Eden Medical Center, including three with severe injuries requiring immediate transport. Officials declined to comment on the nature of their injuries.

    Video captured from a Ring doorbell affixed to a neighboring house showed an excavator digging near the home moments before the explosion. The blast rattled nearby homes, shattered windows and sent construction crews running.

    Initially, authorities suspected that two people were missing after the blast. That was determined not to be the case, Hurd said.

    “They brought in two cadaver dogs looking to see if anyone was still trapped under the rubble, and the dogs cleared everything,” Hurd said.

    Officials with the Sheriff’s Office, PG&E and the National Transportation Safety Board are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to the explosion.

    In 2010, a PG&E pipeline ruptured in a San Bruno neighborhood, destroying 38 homes and killing eight people. California regulators later approved a $1.6-billion fine against the utility for violating state and federal pipeline safety standards.

    [ad_2]

    Gavin J. Quinton

    Source link

  • What to know about proposed PG&E rate hike starting in 2027

    [ad_1]

    Earlier this year, NBC Bay Area spoke with the CEO of PG&E about how customers’ bills should be falling in 2026, but some customers may have recently received a flyer in the mail about a pending rate hike proposal for 2027.

    The company will make the ask before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) later this week, and the public will be able to weigh in.

    For the last couple of years, PG&E has been on what it expects will be an expensive yearslong project to bury many of its power lines that are in wildfire prone areas. Despite that, the company says it is committed to stabilizing the costs it is passing on to residential customers.

    “Our electric bills are lower today than they were in January a year ago,” PG&E spokesman Mike Gazda said. “They’re expected to go down next year. And if this proposal is approved as it was filed, bills for our customers in 2027 would be pretty flat with where they are today.”

    The plan calls for rates to be hiked incrementally each year over the next four years. By 2030, rate payers using about 500 kilowatt hours per month would see their bills be about $408 more than today.

    That will bring in an additional $4.4 billion for PG&E. The company says it will use that money to continue upgrading its system.

    Over the summer, PG&E CEO Patti Poppe made a special effort to explain why the utility has decided to bury, or “underground” as PG&E calls it, miles and miles of power lines when some critics say it would be less expensive to simply insulate those lines.

    “Insulating lines in our highest density, in our highest vegetation dense areas, which are our highest fire risk areas, leaves 35% of the risk still on the system,” Poppe said in May. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live in a place where I have 35% risk of a wildfire.”

    Those efforts have meant PG&E customers are paying significantly more. Average yearly rates have doubled since 2022.

    The public will have two opportunities this week to voice their opinions on PG&E’s proposed rate hike. The CPUC will have a public participation session Wednesday by webcast and a second one on Thursday. Rate payers who would like to sound off in person can do that Nov. 7, but that in-person meeting is in Fresno.

    NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai sat down for an exclusive interview with PG&E CEO Patti Poppe.

    [ad_2]

    Sergio Quintana

    Source link

  • Wildfire victims say PG&E owes more compensation

    [ad_1]

    Bad news Tuesday for fire victims who were hoping a judge would help compensate them for everything they lost in wildfires sparked by PG&E power lines back in 2017 and 2018.

    Among them, the Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise.

    The mounting liability pushed PG&E into bankruptcy and many fire victims said they have never been properly compensated.

    Investigative Reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken was in the San Francisco courtroom Tuesday when the judge threw out their primary challenge. Watch his report in the video above.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Power outage in El Dorado County impacts over 8,000 PG&E customers

    Power outage in El Dorado County impacts over 8,000 PG&E customers

    [ad_1]

    (FOX40.COM) — A power outage in El Dorado County has affected more than 8,000 PG&E customers, according to the utility’s outage map.

    The map states that the outage was reported around 6:45 p.m. in the El Dorado Hills neighborhood. Outages start as far as the Crescent Ridge area and extend south along Latrobe Road.

    PG&E’s outage map showed over 8,000 customers without power in El Dorado County on Sunday evening.

    Power outages are also reported in the Clarksville area, Serrano Village neighborhood, and just west of the Cameron Park neighborhood.

    The outage map states that power is expected to be restored around 1:15 a.m.

    The cause of the power outage has not been announced.

    [ad_2]

    Aydian Ahmad

    Source link

  • Thousands affected by power outages in Sacramento region, outage map shows

    Thousands affected by power outages in Sacramento region, outage map shows

    [ad_1]

    (FOX40.COM) — Thousands of people throughout the Sacramento region were affected by power outages on Wednesday, according to PG&E’s outage map.

    Around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, the utility’s outage map shows over 4,000 people without power in Davis (4,086) and over 3,000 without power in Stockton (3,295).

    Over 3,000 Stockton residents were affected by power outages on Wednesday, according to PG&E’s outage map.

    PG&E said the outages in Davis were reported around 5 p.m. and the outages in Stockton were reported around 7 p.m.

    The utility added that crews are currently working to restore power in both cities and that restoration efforts should be completed around 10:30 p.m. in Davis and just after midnight in Stockton.

    At 9:45 p.m., all outages in Davis had been resolved, and the number of outages in Stockton had gone from over 3,000 to a little more than 1,000 people.

    It has not been made clear what caused the power outages.

    [ad_2]

    Aydian Ahmad

    Source link

  • PG&E outage map shows over 2,000 without power in Tracy amid Corral Fire

    PG&E outage map shows over 2,000 without power in Tracy amid Corral Fire

    [ad_1]

    (FOX40.COM) — As fire crews work to contain the Corral Fire in San Joaquin County, PG&E’s outage map showed over 2,000 customers without power near the area where the fire is occupied on Saturday.

    The exact number of people without power was 2,280 and the utility said an estimated time to expect power restoration was 10:15 p.m., however, around 9:45 p.m., the outage map showed the power outages were fully resolved.

    PG&E outage map showing over 2,000 customers in Tracy without power.

    Around 4 p.m. on Saturday, the San Joaquin County’s Office of Emergency Services advised residents to avoid the area of Corral Hollow Road between Interstate 580 and the Alameda County line due to a fire.

    Less than 30 minutes later, Cal Fire said its firefighters were at the scene of a 450-acre fire in the same area. The fire was reported at nearly 1,000 acres around 5:30 p.m., and as of 8 p.m., Cal Fire’s map shows the size of the fire at 4,940 acres.

    Evacuation orders are in place due to the Corral Fire. According to the SJC OES, “areas west of the CA Aqueduct, south of Corral Hollow Creek, west to Alameda County, and south to Stanislaus County should leave now. A temporary evacuation point is at Larch Clover Community Center. [A] large animal shelter is being established at 2271 W Louise Ave Manteca.”

    [ad_2]

    Aydian Ahmad

    Source link

  • Use solar power, kill a tortoise? Climate change solution carries environmental costs

    Use solar power, kill a tortoise? Climate change solution carries environmental costs

    [ad_1]

    Dustin Mulvaney, SJSU environmental studies professor, stands at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thurssday, May 2, 2024. Mulvaney believes California has far more than enough alternative space, including parking lots, contaminated land and other areas, that there’s no need for massive solar arrays in pristine areas such as the Mojave Desert. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) 

    Turn on your toaster, bulldoze a Joshua tree. Flip a light switch, feed an endangered tortoise to a badger.

    Solar power, widely seen as humanity’s best hope for avoiding catastrophic climate change, can carry a heavy environmental cost, depending on where panels and transmission lines are built.

    Some of that infrastructure — providing electricity to millions of Californians — is going into places it should not, says San Jose State University environmental studies professor and sustainable energy expert, Dustin Mulvaney. Killing plants and animals, of course, is not a goal for solar developers, but the collateral damage has sparked bitter debate over where panels and lines belong.

    California has done a good job of protecting its public lands while facilitating solar development, Mulvaney says. But many residents are powering their homes with electricity from Nevada, where pristine natural areas are taking an increasingly hard hit, and from private, California projects in important animal and plant habitats, he says.

    Several “aggregators” — community-based alternatives to utility giants that are often marketed as “clean” — have contracts for power from a Southern California project that would see 4,000 Joshua trees leveled, he says. Other projects feeding aggregators bring significant loss of wildlife habitat.

    Mulvaney believes sacrificing nature for solar is unnecessary. California could meet its electricity needs by putting solar panels on just a tenth of its contaminated sites, old mines, unusable former farmlands, parking lots and other disturbed areas, he says. “We need to be building out our electricity transmission infrastructure toward those sites,” Mulvaney says. The more solar close to major urban areas, the better, he adds. Every home and Amazon warehouse presents another rooftop-solar opportunity, he says.

    This news organization sat down with Mulvaney recently to discuss solar power. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

    Q: Describe the controversy over where to put solar generation facilities?
    A: Most big solar farms are not controversial. They get controversial when they go onto landscapes that are of significance, either ecological significance or cultural significance — sometimes there are important cultural resources for tribes.

    Q: Do we have need for both rooftop solar and utility-scale solar?
    A: We should have more rooftop, but we’re going to need more utility scale based on the way our grid is built.

    Q: Why do we have solar developments and proposals for pristine areas, when already-altered land is available?
    A: Transmission lines are why we see projects where they are. Back in the ’60s we built transmission lines to connect to coal-fired power plants in the western United States. As those coal-fired power plants are turning off, those transmission lines suddenly have power availability. The (planned new) Greenlink transmission line which is going to connect Las Vegas and Reno goes through a Native American site and through a bunch of sensitive ecosystems. And we’re already seeing applications for solar farms along that transmission corridor. That’s going to be power that goes to California, probably. Nevada has fewer protections for its public lands.

    Q: What roles do the big utilities like PG&E and Southern California Edison play in where solar farms go up?
    A: The community choice aggregators are playing a bigger role than the utilities in determining these development patterns now. The community choice aggregators are doing much of the (power) purchasing. For the Yellow Pine solar farm on the Nevada border (to produce electricity for Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Central Coast Community Energy), lots of desert tortoises had to be removed from that site. Forty-something of those tortoises were eaten by badgers right away.

    Q: Could we meet our electricity needs without big solar farms?
    A: There’s nothing theoretically prohibiting rooftop solar and batteries from powering a community. Do you have enough sun? We get those back to back to back to back cyclones in the winter. Sometimes the cloud cover’s all the way across the Central Valley. Do you have enough batteries? The battery storage probably makes that prohibitively expensive at this stage. It would require rethinking how we move power around.

    Q: What do we stand to lose by putting big solar farms in the wilderness?
    A: All sorts of species, old-growth barrel cactus, desert tortoise, kit fox. The desert tortoise just last week was up-listed by the California Department of Fish and Game to be endangered. That species has lost 90% of its population since 1980. Bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope are impacted by solar farms because their habitat gets fragmented by them. Their populations get more isolated, they have inbreeding.

    Q: Could we meet all our needs without putting solar on undisturbed wilderness?
    A: There’s a great study. You can avoid important lands to conservation and it would only increase the cost of power by 3%, based on their estimates.

    Q: Where are some places where you could put reasonable amounts of solar generation to help avoid bringing power in from the desert or Nevada?
    A: On the western side of the Central Valley a lot of those soils are contaminated with selenium. That would be an area where you could have less impact. That’s where you could put pretty big utility scale projects that would be really close to the Bay Area, and above the bottleneck — California has a (power line capacity) bottleneck for the power, around Los Banos. We have to build more renewables above the bottleneck in northern California to help the Bay Area.

    Q: What about Southern California?
    A: You have a lot of renewables in Southern California already. Southern California just needs more rooftop solar on their warehouses and things like that.

    [ad_2]

    Ethan Baron

    Source link

  • Former CPUC president calls out agency for skyrocketing PG&E rates

    Former CPUC president calls out agency for skyrocketing PG&E rates

    [ad_1]

    The former president of the California Public Utilities Commission is criticizing the regulatory agency, claiming its current commissioners are failing to protect consumers from skyrocketing utility bills.”I know what the job of the PUC is, or what it’s supposed to be, which is to protect consumers while we ensure adequate electric and gas service,” Loretta Lynch told KCRA 3 Investigates’ Lysée Mitri during a one-on-one interview. “I believe that this PUC is failing in that job, because they are allowing this enormous bucket of costs to grow and grow without controlling the utilities costs.” PG&E customers saw two rate increases hit their bills this year.”PG&E asked, and the PUC said, ‘Sure, we’ll give it to you,’” said Lynch, describing what she calls a “dangerous trend.” In the first quarter of this year, PG&E announced its earnings rose to $732 million — a jump of more than $160 million over that same timeframe last year. Meanwhile, the average customer saw monthly bills surge by more than $30 in January. That was the first and largest of two increases to take effect this year following approval from the PUC.Much of the increases are meant to cover wildfire prevention projects, like burying miles and miles of power lines underground. “PG&E customers are getting hit with a double whammy,” Lynch said. “It’s all about making wise choices that are cost-effective, that actually prevent wildfires and don’t just plump up PG&E’s profits.” PG&E declined an in-person interview but responded to our questions via email.”The CPUC approved our 2023-2026 General Rate Case in November, 2023, through an open, transparent and public process which included multiple parties and stakeholders. More than 85% of our proposed increased, originally submitted in 2021, was to reduce risk in our gas and electric operations,” said PG&E Spokesperson Lynsey Paulo.The utility said most of its rate increases have been to “reduce risk in gas and electric operations.”In response to KCRA 3 Investigates’ questions about PG&E’s increased earnings, the utility said, “We are reinvesting the vast majority of our profits back into the business to continue making improvements for our customers. More than 99% are re-invested back into the business to improve how we serve customers and support our return to financial health, so that we can continue to attract the investments we’ll need to build the safe, climate-resilient system for customers. Restoring PG&E’s financial health allows us to continue to make operational progress at the lowest cost. We’re on a path to return to investment grade, which would reduce the costs of financing that we pass on to customers.”KCRA 3 Investigates also reached out to each of the CPUC commissioners. None of them agreed to an on-camera interview. On Thursday, the commission will be in Sacramento, voting on another change that could impact PG&E customers. This time it is not at the request of the utility. It is a change that is actually required by a state law. Commissioners will consider a proposal to decrease the price of electricity based on usage while also establishing a fixed charge, reallocating how customers are billed in accordance with Assembly Bill 205.”Our electricity is way out of whack on its price,” said Mike Campbell, the assistant deputy of energy with the California Public Advocates Office.The proposal would cut how much people pay per kilowatt-hour by 5-7 cents, aiming to make it more affordable to electrify homes and cars.It would also shift other costs customers are currently paying for in their usage rate into a flat rate of $24.15 a month instead. It would go toward things, like the cost of the infrastructure that actually connects customers to the grid.| RELATED | Will your PG&E bill go up or down? How a key vote by California regulators could impact you”That fixed charge amount is the same really as what SMUD customers pay,” Campbell said. That means the change would mainly impact PG&E customers in our area. The Public Advocates Office believes the proposal would be an improvement for customers.”Having all of your energy costs be associated with your usage makes it very volatile,” Campbell said. “So, especially if you have a heatwave for a week, you kind of cringe waiting for that bill to arrive.” In addition, the fixed charge will be lower for customers who qualify for low-income assistance programs. For instance, customers enrolled in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program will be charged a discounted flat rate of $6 per month while customers enrolled in the Family Electric Rate Assistance Program (FERA) will qualify for a discounted flat rate of $12 per month. This means, overall, they should save on their monthly bills, along with people who use a lot of energy.However, the proposal is designed to be revenue-neutral for utilities, so if some customers save money, then others may pay more. It may mean a bigger bill for those who just missed qualifying for a low-income discount and already keep their power usage to a minimum.”If you’re on the really high end of a bill impact, I’m thinking that’s $7 a month with the super high end but, again, these are customers who are not the low-income customers,” Campbell said.The PUC is scheduled to meet at the Warren Alquist State Energy Building at 1516 9th Street in Sacramento at 11 a.m. Thursday.Should commissioners approve the change, it would take effect starting in 2026 for PG&E customers.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

    The former president of the California Public Utilities Commission is criticizing the regulatory agency, claiming its current commissioners are failing to protect consumers from skyrocketing utility bills.

    “I know what the job of the PUC is, or what it’s supposed to be, which is to protect consumers while we ensure adequate electric and gas service,” Loretta Lynch told KCRA 3 Investigates’ Lysée Mitri during a one-on-one interview. “I believe that this PUC is failing in that job, because they are allowing this enormous bucket of costs to grow and grow without controlling the utilities costs.”

    PG&E customers saw two rate increases hit their bills this year.

    “PG&E asked, and the PUC said, ‘Sure, we’ll give it to you,’” said Lynch, describing what she calls a “dangerous trend.”

    In the first quarter of this year, PG&E announced its earnings rose to $732 million — a jump of more than $160 million over that same timeframe last year. Meanwhile, the average customer saw monthly bills surge by more than $30 in January. That was the first and largest of two increases to take effect this year following approval from the PUC.

    Much of the increases are meant to cover wildfire prevention projects, like burying miles and miles of power lines underground.

    “PG&E customers are getting hit with a double whammy,” Lynch said. “It’s all about making wise choices that are cost-effective, that actually prevent wildfires and don’t just plump up PG&E’s profits.”

    PG&E declined an in-person interview but responded to our questions via email.

    “The CPUC approved our 2023-2026 General Rate Case in November, 2023, through an open, transparent and public process which included multiple parties and stakeholders. More than 85% of our proposed increased, originally submitted in 2021, was to reduce risk in our gas and electric operations,” said PG&E Spokesperson Lynsey Paulo.

    The utility said most of its rate increases have been to “reduce risk in gas and electric operations.”

    In response to KCRA 3 Investigates’ questions about PG&E’s increased earnings, the utility said, “We are reinvesting the vast majority of our profits back into the business to continue making improvements for our customers. More than 99% are re-invested back into the business to improve how we serve customers and support our return to financial health, so that we can continue to attract the investments we’ll need to build the safe, climate-resilient system for customers. Restoring PG&E’s financial health allows us to continue to make operational progress at the lowest cost. We’re on a path to return to investment grade, which would reduce the costs of financing that we pass on to customers.”

    KCRA 3 Investigates also reached out to each of the CPUC commissioners. None of them agreed to an on-camera interview.

    On Thursday, the commission will be in Sacramento, voting on another change that could impact PG&E customers.

    This time it is not at the request of the utility. It is a change that is actually required by a state law.

    Commissioners will consider a proposal to decrease the price of electricity based on usage while also establishing a fixed charge, reallocating how customers are billed in accordance with Assembly Bill 205.

    “Our electricity is way out of whack on its price,” said Mike Campbell, the assistant deputy of energy with the California Public Advocates Office.

    The proposal would cut how much people pay per kilowatt-hour by 5-7 cents, aiming to make it more affordable to electrify homes and cars.

    It would also shift other costs customers are currently paying for in their usage rate into a flat rate of $24.15 a month instead. It would go toward things, like the cost of the infrastructure that actually connects customers to the grid.

    | RELATED | Will your PG&E bill go up or down? How a key vote by California regulators could impact you

    “That fixed charge amount is the same really as what SMUD customers pay,” Campbell said. That means the change would mainly impact PG&E customers in our area.

    The Public Advocates Office believes the proposal would be an improvement for customers.

    “Having all of your energy costs be associated with your usage makes it very volatile,” Campbell said. “So, especially if you have a heatwave for a week, you kind of cringe waiting for that bill to arrive.”

    In addition, the fixed charge will be lower for customers who qualify for low-income assistance programs. For instance, customers enrolled in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program will be charged a discounted flat rate of $6 per month while customers enrolled in the Family Electric Rate Assistance Program (FERA) will qualify for a discounted flat rate of $12 per month. This means, overall, they should save on their monthly bills, along with people who use a lot of energy.

    However, the proposal is designed to be revenue-neutral for utilities, so if some customers save money, then others may pay more.

    It may mean a bigger bill for those who just missed qualifying for a low-income discount and already keep their power usage to a minimum.

    “If you’re on the really high end of a bill impact, I’m thinking that’s $7 a month with the super high end but, again, these are customers who are not the low-income customers,” Campbell said.

    The PUC is scheduled to meet at the Warren Alquist State Energy Building at 1516 9th Street in Sacramento at 11 a.m. Thursday.

    Should commissioners approve the change, it would take effect starting in 2026 for PG&E customers.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Another California PG&E rate increase approved despite public outcry

    Another California PG&E rate increase approved despite public outcry

    [ad_1]

    (FOX40.COM) — The California Public Utilities Commission approved another hike in Pacific Gas & Electric rates that will go into effect in April 2024.

    The decision was made at Thursday’s California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) meeting despite several customers who vehemently spoke out against it. The added expense follows a 13% rate increase (almost $35 a month) that happened on Jan. 1, 2024.

    “The costs were not included in prior rates proceedings,” said Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) spokesperson, Mika Gazda. “We have requested to recover these costs over multiple years to limit the impact on customers.”

    According to PG&E, its 16 million customers can expect to see an additional $3.65 on their bills. As Pacific Gas & Electric continues to charge their customers more, many of them are fed up.

    “I feel like they’re greedy and I want it to stop,” said a PG&E customer who was in attendance at Thursday’s vote meeting.

    PG&E’s last earnings report showed that the company profited $2.4B in 2023 which is a 25% increase from 2022. Although it has more revenue, they said it had nothing to do with the rate increases and that 99% of the money is going toward its infrastructure. The leftover 1% went to stakeholders, according to PG&E.

    “Take the rate increase out of the profits and not out of our meager wages,” another PG&E customer said at the meeting.

    Several cries to halt the hikes rang out at the vote meeting, however, the CPUC voted in favor of more expensive PG&E bills.

    “The commission is falling for PG&E’s continued claims of crying poor -of saying they’re in a financial squeeze,” said Mark Toney, a member of the Utilities Reform Network.

    He added that PG&E customers need to prepare themselves because this won’t be the last increase in rates.

    In January 2024, PG&E requested an additional $14 a month for costs associated with wildfire prevention in California. The CPUC is expected to take up a vote on that soon.

    “PG&E is asking for a $14 a month increase and several others on top of this,” Toney said. “We’ve got to fix this broken system.”

    [ad_2]

    Veronica Catlin

    Source link

  • ‘Like a war zone up there’: Some North Bay residents endure fifth day without power

    ‘Like a war zone up there’: Some North Bay residents endure fifth day without power

    [ad_1]

    It’s been five days since the brunt of the storm and some North Bay residents are still in the dark.

    While customers wait for their power to come back, they’re finding ways to get by.

    Adam Venn spent his Thursday afternoon at the laundromat after his family ran out of clean clothes.

    “We have a generator, but there’s only so much you can do with a generator,” he said.

    Venn lives in a remote area of Sonoma County where he says 10 large trees came down in his backyard. The power lines are broken in six places on his road.

    “One tree after another came down and we’ve been having to cut our way out pretty much,” he said. “It’s pretty much like a war zone up there. It’s hard to describe how wild it was.”

    Mika Miranda is in the same boat. She, too, is on day five without power, trying to be patient with PG&E.

    “I know that they’re working really hard, and it’s just kind of a freak incident I think with the weather,” she said. “Hopefully everyone’s doing OK.”

    PG&E said crews have restored power to 1.4 million customers so far.

    “We know how frustrating it is to be without power,” PG&E spokesperson Megan McFarland said. “We are doing everything we can to get the power back on for customers. These final outages are some of our most complicated and most remote areas with incredible amounts of damage.”

    Mai Shizu is brushing her teeth at work because she doesn’t have running water at her house. She’s charging her phone and electronics at work, too. Five days without electricity has been rough.

    “It’s been pretty cold in the house,” she said. “There’s no heat. We can see our breath inside. Me and my parents have been huddling around our propane campfire fire stove cooking whatever we can.”

    Venn said he won’t be surprised if it takes another five days to restore his power. Fortunately, he has a wood stove.

    “Plenty of wood,” he said.

    [ad_2]

    Jodi Hernandez

    Source link

  • PG&E penalized $45 million in Dixie fire settlement with CPUC

    PG&E penalized $45 million in Dixie fire settlement with CPUC

    [ad_1]

    Pacific Gas & Electric Company will be penalized $45 million for its involvement in one of the largest and most destructive wildfires in California history under a settlement reached recently between the utility and state regulators.

    The Dixie fire, which burned nearly 1 million acres and destroyed more than 1,300 homes, ignited July 13, 2021, after a Douglas fir tree fell and struck energized conductors owned and operated by PG&E. The blaze became the first known wildfire to burn from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other.

    The California Public Utilities Commission announced the settlement Thursday and said the penalty includes $40 million in shareholder funding for an initiative to transition some of the utility’s hard-copy records to electronic records.

    The initiative “will support public safety by enabling more accurate recording of information and immediate awareness of the condition of PG&E’s assets, thereby improving the timeliness of inspections and preventive maintenance, and assisting the CPUC in conducting future audits and investigations,” the regulatory agency said.

    PG&E will also pay $2.5 million in fines to the California General Fund and $2.5 million to tribes affected by the Dixie fire. PG&E will distribute those payments to the Greenville Rancheria and Maidu Summit Consortium, a nonprofit representing a number of Mountain Maidu tribes and organizations, the CPUC said.

    Flames from the Dixie fire crest a forested hill

    (Noah Berger / Associated Press)

    The settlement was reached under a relatively new enforcement tool known as an administrative consent order, which was established in 2020 to “better serve Californians through streamlined enforcement actions” in lieu of a more formal investigation, according to the CPUC.

    In its own report submitted to the agency soon after the Dixie fire started, PG&E said a worker responded to an outage in the Feather River Canyon area of Plumas County around 7 a.m. that day, but that he was not able to reach the site until after 4:30 p.m. Once there, he found found two blown fuses and a tree leaning into a power line conductor. A fire was burning at the base of the tree, which soon grew out of control.

    PG&E officials on Thursday said the utility accepts that a tree falling onto their power line caused the fire, but it denies any fault or negligence.

    “PG&E believes we acted as a prudent operator. There is no evidence that PG&E consciously and willfully disregarded a known risk with regard to the ignition of the Dixie fire. We followed the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requirements when inspecting, maintaining and operating our system,” read a statement from the agency.

    “We share our regulators’ commitment to improve safety,” the statement said.

    The utility said it will not request rate recovery for the settlement expenses — meaning the costs will not affect customers. However, “the agreement does not preclude PG&E from receiving cost recovery for costs related to the fire, including from the state’s Wildfire Fund.”

    In this long exposure photo, embers light up hillsides as the Dixie fire burns near Milford.

    In this long exposure photo, embers light up hillsides as the Dixie fire burns near Milford in Lassen County, Calif., on Aug. 17, 2021.

    (Noah Berger / Associated Press)

    It is not the first time PG&E has been held accountable for its connection to a California wildfire. In recent years, the electric company reached a $150-million settlement with the CPUC for its role in the Zogg fire, which killed four people, and a $125-million settlement for its role in the 2019 Kincade fire, among other agreements.

    In 2019, PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection to shield itself from tens of billions of dollars in potential liabilities due to its role in previous state blazes. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2020 with officials promising improvements, including plans to bury 10,000 miles of power lines in high-risk areas where strong winds, downed trees and other factors can lead to fires. Only about 600 miles have been buried so far, officials told The Times in November.

    Last year, PG&E avoided criminal prosecution for the Dixie fire as part of a separate settlement agreement with six Northern California counties in which it admitted no wrongdoing. The utility agreed to pay about $55 million over five years in civil penalties, among other terms.

    The CPUC’s five-member committee approved the settlement agreement in a meeting Thursday. Commission President Alice Busching Reynolds noted that “it’s not the only action taken by us or by other government agencies with respect to the fire. “

    “When taken as a whole, and viewed in light of the broader circumstances, I do support this negotiated settlement agreement and its related resolution,” she said.

    Busching Reynolds said PG&E has since instituted a power line safety program to detect problems on distribution lines — such as fallen trees — which then de-energizes the lines. Unfortunately, she said, “this program was not in place to prevent the Dixie fire.”

    The fire, which was contained on Oct. 21, 2021, cost the state $637 million to suppress, CPUC officials said. It was the second-largest wildfire on record in the state.

    [ad_2]

    Hayley Smith

    Source link