California
Customer Services & Management
US: SMUD is overpaying rooftop solar customers says study
The study found that the value of solar is 7 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2020 and steadily declines through 2030, as additional solar hits the market.
Customer Services & Management
PG&E to pilot free residential battery storage for vulnerable customers
Pacific Gas and Electric Company has announced a new financial assistance pilot for residential customers to install home battery storage systems at no cost to them.
Distributed generation
SCE and Opus One partner for California’s first customer-owned DER pilot
Canada's Opus One Solutions has announced an agreement with Southern California Edison to create “interoperable distributed control architecture”.
Storage
PG&E looking to secure more than 400MW in lithium-ion storage in...
Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is asking for approval from state regulators to procure more than 400MW of lithium-ion energy storage from five projects.
Energy & Grid Management
SCE to begin line insulation work in California despite pandemic, lockdown
Southern California Edison (SCE), will begin insulating power lines in Valencia in preparation for the wildfire season. The work has been deemed critical and the utility said the crews will practice physical distancing during while doing the installations.
Policy & Regulation
PG&E to plead guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter for 2018...
The utility announced it had reached a plea agreement with the Butte County District Attorney’s office, saving PG&E executives from prison sentences, but with a $4 million fine imposed.
Policy & Regulation
PG&E donates $1 million, 900,000 masks for California COVID-19 relief
Pacific Gas & Electric is donating nearly one million medical masks to California governor Gavin Newsom’s emergency office in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Electric Vehicles
Tesla factory ordered to shut down as part of California COVID-19...
Tesla’s California factory in Alameda county which employs roughly 10,000 people, and is responsible for most of the company’s vehicle manufacturing, has been ordered to shut down under the county’s “shelter-in-place” order, given its classification as a “non-essential business”.
Renewable Energy
US developer advances 2.7GW California solar mega-plant
US developer CIM Group announced the advancing of development of Westlands Solar Park, one of the largest permitted solar parks in the world that could grow to more than 2.7GW of capacity at full buildout, and provide clean energy to more than 1,200,000 homes.
Renewable Energy
California mandates solar for new homes, but residents have an alternative
SMUD has lauded the CEC approval of its Neighborhood SolarShares community solar programme for the 2019 Building Standards, opening the door to community solar.
