California utility adds to its renewable portfolio

California utility signs 831-megawatt photovoltaic farms deal
A solar station in Vacaville, California.Photo: PG&EIn another sign that photovoltaic power is poised to become a significant source of greenhouse gas-free electricity, California utility Southern California Edison on Monday announced it had signed deals to generate 831 megawatts from Solar Panel farms. To put that in perspective, that's nearly a third of the electricity to be generated by California's decade-long program to install 3,000 megawatts' worth of solar panels on residential and c...

Bay Area firms to build solar plants in utility deal
Southern California Edison has agreed to buy electricity from a string of solar Power Plants that two Bay Area companies plan to build across the state, facilities that together will generate enough electricity for 540,000 homes. The power purchase agreements with SunPower Corp. and Fotowatio Renewable Ventures Inc., announced Monday, will help Edison meet the state's goals for using more renewable power. Financial terms were not disclosed. All seven of the solar plants to be built - three by...

Hawaii expands push to fuel hydrogen cars
Hawaii may be the First State in the nation to successfully build a fueling infrastructure that will support thousands of hydrogen fuel cell cars. In December, the Detroit auto manufacturer General Motors, in partnership with the Honolulu-based utility the Gas Co., announced they are partnering with 10 additional companies, government agencies and universities to help implement a plan that would tap into Oahu's 1,000-mile utility Pipeline and supply hydrogen to the many fuel-cell vehicles expect...

News Bites: Alaska oil pipeline operator seeks to end shutdown, farm lobby takes on EPA, utility merger could hurt big coal, and
There’s a plan for restoring the flow of oil through Alaska’s massive Pipeline. “The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System operator is installing a bypass to restore the line that carries 15 percent of U.S. crude output after a leak forced its closure three days earlier,” Bloomberg reports. The American Farm Bureau Federation is at odds with EPA over Water Pollution policy. “A major farmers group filed a federal Lawsuit Monday to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's most a

Politics: Gabrielle Giffords Is a Green Patriot
But Giffords also took some heat from right-wing opponents over her support of carbon cap-and-trade Legislation, which passed the House in June 2009 before dying in the Senate, although Climate Change legislation has never quite reached the partisan pitch that the battle over Health Care did—in part because energy and Climate Change isn't a high priority on most voters' minds. Those issues did matter to Giffords, however, who not only voted in favor of cap-and-trade—not a popular pos...

Gabrielle Giffords a tireless advocate for solar energy
I don’t tend to think you can draw any broader conclusions from the acts of one demented, violent individual — as I’ve said before. Giffords is, however, beloved of the Solar Energy community, who sent out a note about her Sunday, and that deserves a post.  Perhaps the best thing is to reprint what the inside-the-beltway center-right mavens at Politico wrote about her today.  Let’s start with their Morning Energy update: Gabrielle Giffords - “Gabby is not only

Before Yemen, Clinton lauds green UAE
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The Clean Energy partnership between Abu Dhabi and the U.S. Department of Energy is one of the most important for a green future, said Hillary Clinton. Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, before making an unannounced visit Tuesday to Yemen, met with Sultan Al Jaber, the Emirati Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Adnan Amin, the interim director for Abu Dhabi's International Renewable Energy Agency. "The partnership that we have established b...

Tidal power plant proposed for New York's East River
Here's exciting news for anyone who's been watching the fledgling efforts to promote tidal power in the U.S.: A New York energy company that has been testing tidal power in the East River has filed a formal application to install 30 underwater power turbines in the East Channel of the river. If approved, the company, Verdant Power, said in making the recent announcement, the project would be the first tidal Power Plant in the U.S. licensed to transmit energy onto the National Grid. Basically, ti...

Solar industry praises Giffords as 'one of the strongest advocates for solar in Congress'
The solar industry praised Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) this weekend as “one of the strongest advocates for solar in Congress.” Giffords and 19 other people were shot Saturday in Tucson, Arizona. Six people were killed. Giffords remained in critical condition Monday, but doctors say they are “cautiously optimistic” that she will survive. In a letter to the group’s members shortly after news of the shooting broke, Solar Energy Industries Association President Rhone Resch

Military blocked from importing Chinese solar panels
Image via Wikipedia NY Times: The Military appropriations law signed by President Obama on Friday contains a little-noticed “Buy American” provision for the Defense Department purchases of Solar Panels — a provision that is likely to dismay Chinese officials as President Hu Jintao prepares to visit the United States next week. Although there are many big issues to discuss, including concerns about North Korea, trade and economic matters are certain to be high on the agenda. ...

Global investment in green energy hit record in 2010
The numbers are in and 2010 proved a record year for green energy, investment with Venture Capitalists, corporations, and governments worldwide pouring $243 billion into Wind Farms, solar power, Electric Cars, and other technologies, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That's a 30 percent spike from 2009 and nearly five times the money invested in 2004, the research firm said. "It flies in the face of skepticism about the Clean Energy sector among public market investors...

Duke Energy and Progress to merge
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Duke Energy said Monday it would merge with Progress Energy Inc. to create the largest U.S. utility company. The firm said it had agreed to an all-stock deal worth $13 billion, that would result in a firm also called Duke Energy, which would have approximately $65 million in enterprise value and $37 billion in market capitalization. If approved by Regulators, the Merger would also create the largest utility company in the country in terms of production capacity...

Nuclear plants firing in France, EDF says
Electricite de France, the world's largest utility company, said the 58 nuclear reactors at its 19 Nuclear Power stations are set up now to produce 60 million kilowatt hours of electricity for French consumers for the first time since December 2004. The linkage of the 58 reactors, EDF said, represents an "impressive industrial feat" that guarantees French consumers a reliable power source during a harsh winter season. The French utility company said its production was 5 percent higher for peak c...

Ashley Turton, Former Hill staffer, found dead in burning car
© AP Ashley Turton was found dead in her vehicle after a car crash and subsequent fire. A Veteran congressional aide who worked most recently as a Lobbyist and was married to a senior White House legislative affairs official was found dead in her car Monday behind the couple's Capitol Hill home following a low-speed car crash and subsequent fire. Ashley Turton, whose husband, Dan, is the White House's Deputy Director of legislative affairs for the U.S. House, died in the early-morning in...

PG&E; halts intentional gas line pressure spikes
(01-10) 18:20 PST San Francisco -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Monday it has suspended the practice of boosting pressure on its natural-gas transmission lines to the legal limit, an announcement it made one day after The Chronicle reported that such a spike might have weakened the San Bruno Pipeline before it ruptured. The Chronicle reported Sunday that on Dec. 9, 2008, PG&E; intentionally boosted gas pressure on the San Bruno line for two hours to the maximum legal limit of 400 pounds p...

PG&E; halts intentional gas line pressure spikes
(01-10) 18:20 PST San Francisco -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Monday it has suspended the practice of boosting pressure on its natural-gas transmission lines to the legal limit, an announcement it made one day after The Chronicle reported that such a spike might have weakened the San Bruno Pipeline before it ruptured. The Chronicle reported Sunday that on Dec. 9, 2008, PG&E; intentionally boosted gas pressure on the San Bruno line for two hours to the maximum legal limit of 400 pounds p...

PG&E; halts intentional gas line pressure spikes
(01-10) 18:20 PST San Francisco -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Monday it has suspended the practice of boosting pressure on its natural-gas transmission lines to the legal limit, an announcement it made one day after The Chronicle reported that such a spike might have weakened the San Bruno Pipeline before it ruptured. The Chronicle reported Sunday that on Dec. 9, 2008, PG&E; intentionally boosted gas pressure on the San Bruno line for two hours to the maximum legal limit of 400 pounds p...

PG&E; surge may have stressed San Bruno line in '08
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. briefly raised the pressure on its San Bruno Natural Gas line to the brink less than two years before the Explosion that killed eight people - an action experts call a "huge gamble" that they fear made the pipe more susceptible to failure. A Chronicle investigation into events before the Explosion led PG&E; officials to reveal that for two hours on Dec. 9, 2008, the company intentionally boosted gas pressure to the maximum legal limit of 400 pounds per square inch. ...

PG&E; surge may have stressed San Bruno line in '08
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. briefly raised the pressure on its San Bruno Natural Gas line to the brink less than two years before the Explosion that killed eight people - an action experts call a "huge gamble" that they fear made the pipe more susceptible to failure. A Chronicle investigation into events before the Explosion led PG&E; officials to reveal that for two hours on Dec. 9, 2008, the company intentionally boosted gas pressure to the maximum legal limit of 400 pounds per square inch. ...

PG&E; surge may have stressed San Bruno line in '08
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. briefly raised the pressure on its San Bruno Natural Gas line to the brink less than two years before the Explosion that killed eight people - an action experts call a "huge gamble" that they fear made the pipe more susceptible to failure. A Chronicle investigation into events before the Explosion led PG&E; officials to reveal that for two hours on Dec. 9, 2008, the company intentionally boosted gas pressure to the maximum legal limit of 400 pounds per square inch. ...

PG&E; halts intentional gas line pressure spikes
(01-10) 18:20 PST San Francisco -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Monday it has suspended the practice of boosting pressure on its natural-gas transmission lines to the legal limit, an announcement it made one day after The Chronicle reported that such a spike might have weakened the San Bruno Pipeline before it ruptured. The Chronicle reported Sunday that on Dec. 9, 2008, PG&E; intentionally boosted gas pressure on the San Bruno line for two hours to the maximum legal limit of 400 pounds p...

PG&E; halts intentional gas-line pressure spikes
(01-10) 18:20 PST San Francisco -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Monday it has suspended the practice of boosting pressure on its natural-gas transmission lines to the legal limit, an announcement it made one day after The Chronicle reported that such a spike may have weakened the San Bruno Pipeline before it ruptured. The Chronicle reported Sunday that on Dec. 9, 2008, PG&E; intentionally boosted gas pressure on the San Bruno line for two hours to the maximum legal limit of 400 pounds per...

Democrat Ward Armstrong leads way towards two energy proposals for 2011
On Friday, House Democratic Leader in the General Assembly, Ward Armstrong, announced that the Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Work Group has finished two proposals on changing how electric utilities are used across Virginia for the 2011 General Assembly session. The first of the two proposals is said to take the state back to the deregulatory environment of electric utilities before 1999 with some additional updates. The fallback proposal if the first does not succeed would make changes to...

Obama's jolt to the economy: 'Tripling' your electric bill ...
The Obama Administration is changing the way Wind Energy projects in the American Midwest are financed by "spreading the costs" to consumers and businesses in other states, possibly doubling or perhaps tripling energy bills in the region in the coming years, experts are telling WND. Obama's team at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates much of the coal, gas, hydroelectric and oil industries, late last month approved a scheme long sought by Environmentalists that links windmi...

Poland gets two new wind farms
WARSAW, Poland, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- With the commissioning of two new Wind Farms in Poland, the country is situated to become a regional leader in Renewable Energy, a German company said. RWE's renewable energy division RWE Innogy announced it commissioned two new Wind Farms in what it described as one of the more attractive wind regimes in Europe. The company, through its Polish subsidiary RWE Polska, commissioned two Wind Farms with a total of 31 turbines that collectively meet the demands of mor...