California

California needs more reliable electricity. The ongoing rolling blackouts in the Golden State will likely become more frequent unless its elected leaders change their foolish energy policies. More importantly, California’s energy posture reveals some harsh lessons for the rest of America, as it provides a glimpse into the future of power generation should the Democrats […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Sept. 6 took the rare but drastic action of issuing an emergency order under the Federal Power Act (FPA) to authorize the maximum operation of three natural gas–fired facilities on the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) grid whose full capability had been stranded by federal air quality and […]

California’s governor demanded an investigation into the cause of a series of power outages—the first since an energy crisis in 2001—that blacked out parts of the state in recent days.  California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has struggled to ensure reliability since Friday, Aug. 14, when, amid triple-digit temperatures, it declared a statewide Stage 2 Emergency, […]

Late last week, to manage a potential large-scale power outage driven by triple-digit temperatures, the California Independent Service Operator (CAISO) called on utilities to implement rolling outages across the California grid. The shutdown of three natural gas power plants and a significant decline in available wind power were cited as the primary reasons behind the […]

Several companies have announced new energy projects in Texas, including three utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), and a solar farm that will benefit customers in the western part of the state. The projects were announced August 19. In addition, officials in Houston on Wednesday said they have awarded a contract for a microgrid that […]

Hecate Grid Awards 20 Megawatt Storage Contract for Southern California Project LAKE MARY, Fla., July 29, 2020 — Hecate Grid, an energy storage company formed by Hecate Energy and InfraRed Capital Partners Limited (acting in its capacity as manager of InfraRed Infrastructure Fund V), has awarded Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Inc. (MHPS) the Johanna […]

A new battery energy storage system (BESS) at an electric substation in California is expected to be one of the world’s largest utility-owned, lithium-ion storage systems when it begins operating next year. The 182.5-MW BESS is being built by Tesla and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) at the utility’s substation in Moss Landing in Monterey […]

IDAS Turn-Key Panels Deliver Flexible Solutions to Meet Each Partner’s Unique Needs Tualatin, OR, July 21, 2020 – Obvius, a Leviton company and a leading provider of data acquisition solutions, announced today their partnership with OpenEGrid to provide a California Rule 21 compliant, site ready, integrated hardware solution. Solar Asset owners can now leverage the […]

LOS ANGELES and SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 17, 2020) – Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced it has begun powering two of its largest Los Angeles-area facilities with Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) solid oxide fuel cells.  The switch to fuel cells will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollutants and the cost of power, […]

SALT LAKE CITY and STANTON, Calif. (July 9, 2020) — CleanSpark, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLSK), a diversified software and services company, and ReJoule, a battery diagnostics and optimization company announced that they have been awarded a grant from the California Energy Commission. The grant is approximately $2.9 million and is slated to be deployed over the […]

The market for microgrids continues to expand, with utilities, businesses, and neighborhoods installing a variety of technologies in systems designed to ensure a reliable and resilient supply of power. The

A federal judge in California has approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan to exit bankruptcy, clearing the way for the utility to compensate victims of a series of wildfires in the state that left more than 100 people dead in 2017 and 2018.  The action by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali on June 20 authorized […]

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for its role in a 2018 wildfire considered the most devastating in California history. The Camp Fire, which began when a transmission line broke from an aged PG&E tower, destroyed the town of Paradise. The utility on Tuesday acknowledged its negligence […]

Recognizing excellence in creative problem-solving to give a project new life and a new role, POWER magazine’s 2020 Reinvention Award goes to two gas-fired power plant construction projects completed

Embracing sustainability is more than a slogan for Delta Electronics (Americas); it’s defined by the company’s headquarters building. The site incorporates Delta’s own technologies to promote energy

Global energy company SGH2, part of Washington, D.C.-based Solena Group, said it has a deal with Lancaster, California, to build what the company calls the world’s biggest green hydrogen production plant, set to be in full operation in early 2023. The company on May 20 said the plant will feature SGH2’s technology that uses recycled […]

SAN FRANCISCO (May 19, 2020) — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has requested approval of five energy storage projects totaling 423 megawatts (MW), in a filing with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The projects are intended to further integrate clean energy from renewable generation sources while ensuring future reliability of the electric system. […]

California officials on May 7 approved a $1.9-billion penalty against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) for the company’s role in a series of wildfires that left more than 100 people dead and caused billions of dollars in damage in 2017 and 2018. The damage claims led PG&E to file for bankruptcy in January 2019. PG&E, […]

April 29, 2020 — The technology group Wärtsilä is finalising a 70-MW energy storage and energy management system project in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) energy market. The energy storage system will be paired with Wärtsilä GEMS platform to maximise system efficiencies and will add renewable power to the grid at times when it […]

Ahead of most of the U.S., California state and local officials in the first weeks of March adopted some of the earliest and strongest steps to restrict movement and close non-essential businesses in order to fight the spread of the COVID-19 disease. One of the key challenges in implementing these “shelter-in-place” orders was how to […]

Workers who install solar power and energy storage systems, along with those working in other sectors of renewable energy, are considered “essential” to maintain “critical infrastructure” in California, according to a clarification from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The state’s Public Health Officer had earlier designated a variety of personnel, mainly health care staff, as […]

Moltex Energy, a privately held nuclear power development company headquartered in the UK with an office in New Brunswick, Canada, has entered into a collaboration agreement with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to support Moltex’s nuclear fuel development program for its Stable Salt Reactor (SSR), among the latest technology advancements for small modular reactors (SMRs). The […]

esVolta, a developer and owner of utility-scale energy storage projects across North America, has been selected to deliver a new Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery energy storage system for California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice), a hybrid joint powers authority made up of five operational community choice aggregations (CCAs) in the cities of Lancaster, Pico Rivera, Rancho Mirage, […]

Energy companies and equipment suppliers to the power generation industry have been at the forefront of efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilities have suspended shutoffs of services to customers impacted by the economic crisis, and have instituted protocols to maintain proper staffing levels to ensure the reliable delivery of electricity during a time when […]

A study published by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) shows peak demand and energy use decreased as much as 21% in some areas as a result of actions taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The report—COVID-19 Bulk System Impacts: Demand Impacts and Operational and Control Center Practices—was released on March 27. It reviews […]

Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing a fire after it was blamed for the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, the deadliest wildfire in state history. The utility reached the agreement with the Butte County District Attorney’s office on March […]

Experts say the solution is simple: increase the role of distributed renewables and deploy energy storage-based microgrids throughout the state. As California continues to cope with looming scheduled blackouts, the harsh reality is that not only is this the new normal for citizens and businesses on the West Coast, but it could remain that way […]

PLEASANTON, California (Feb. 20, 2020) — State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) and ENGIE North America today announced an agreement to build solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, energy storage systems, and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across seven different State Fund locations throughout California. ENGIE and JLL jointly designed this comprehensive program to help State Fund […]

SACRAMENTO, California (Feb. 20, 2020) — The California Energy Commission terminated the license today for the Palmdale Energy Project, a proposed fracked-gas-fired power plant in the Southern California city of Palmdale. The termination came at the request of the plant’s developer, who cited a lack of interest in new fossil fuel power generation. “It’s extremely […]

The technology behind solar power is changing rapidly. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have said so-called “anti-solar” panels could even generate power at night. But even as solar deployments grow worldwide, more innovative solar products are launched, and more governments enact clean energy mandates, political headwinds threaten to slow the progress of the […]