Though regulators are insisting that Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) pay a record $2.25 billion in penalties for its role in a disastrous September 2010 gas line explosion in San Bruno, a ratepayer activist group says that doesn't go nearly far enough. The Utility Reform Network (TURN), which has been watch-dogging California utilities for decades, says that PG&E should pay almost $1.7 billion in additional penalties.
In case you thought the wildlife and wind turbine conflict issue was limited to eagles, condors, and California, think again. A Vermont wind installation is seeking permission to legally kill four endangered bats a year with its turbines, and says that the permit would save the company $4 million a year.
The head of the safety division of California's ratepayer protection agency has blasted Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) over the utility's reaction to a proposed $2.25 billon penalty stemming from a 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people. In a reply to PG&E's calling the proposed penalty "excessive," the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) Emory J. (Jack) Hagan repeatedly referred to the utility's "lack of remorse," saying "It's time to throw the book at PG&E."
Southern California Edison (SCE) has made it official: the utility informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it has closed down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station -- forever.
Four California-based wind power facilities have applied to the federal government for permits to harm eagles, ReWire has learned.
The applications, revealed as the result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) search by an Oklahoma journalist, would shield the wind power companies from prosecution under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) if eagles are injured or killed by their turbines.
Responding to what they called a rash of complaints about commercial solar developments in residential areas, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday to put a hold on new projects until it can craft a county-wide policy.
- Wind Power
- PV and Solar Thermal
- Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)
- Watts and Watt-Hours, Kilo and Mega
- 'Enough To Power X Thousand Homes'
- The Grid
- Distributed Generation
- Conservation and 'Negawatts'
- Grid Storage
- PACE Loans, Feed In Tariffs and Net Metering
- Base Load and Peaking Power
- Capacity Factor
- Renewable Portfolio Standards
- Biomass
- Transportation and Renewable Energy
- Geothermal
