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‘An Immediate and Dramatic Business Concern’: How COVID-19 is Disrupting the Energy Sector

/in , /by /Utility Dive (Washington)by Kavya Balaraman

The economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic could cause widespread disruptions in the energy sector, tightening demand, jeopardizing supply chains, diverting regulatory attention and negating previous growth forecasts for solar and storage deployment, according to financial analysts and industry experts.

The novel coronavirus outbreak will be a “significant global crisis, triggering an economic slowdown” — which will likely affect the broader clean energy transition, including renewables, energy storage, and electric vehicles, analysts at BloombergNEF said in a report published last week.

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Water Service Will Continue During Shelter-in-Place

/in , , /by /NBC Bay Area by Bay City News

San Jose Water customers will have uninterrupted service and water shutoffs for nonpayment will be suspended while the Bay Area undergoes shelter-in-place orders to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, the utility company announced Monday.

The company’s customer service office at 110 West Taylor St. will be closed beginning Monday, but residents can get support online at . Non-essential service appointments will be canceled, the company said.

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Arizona Utilities: Coronavirus Outbreak Won’t Disrupt Power, Water and Internet

/in , /by /Arizona Republicby Ryan Randazzo

Major electric, water, gas and internet utilities said Monday they are well prepared to maintain service in Arizona even as people shift to home-based work and school in the weeks ahead, including many of the utilities’ own employees.

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Take Ten Minutes to Track Down Leaks During Fix-A-Leak Week 2020

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Easily fixed water leaks in American households account for nearly one trillion gallons of water wasted annually. The average household leaks nearly 10,000 gallons of water every year. This would wash 300 loads of laundry and could cost you an additional 10% on your water bill.

Fix-A-Leak Week 2020 is March 16-22. It was created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is supported by WaterSense partners across the U.S. and Canada, including the San Diego County Water Authority and many of its 24 member agencies.

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Coronavirus: Water District Employee Tests Positive, Some Leaders Self-Quarantine

/in , , /by /San Jose Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

An employee at Silicon Valley’s largest water district has tested positive for coronavirus, and at least eight other employees, including CEO Norma Camacho, entered self-quarantine because of it.

The employee at the Santa Clara Valley Water District — a public agency that provides drinking water and flood protection to 2 million residents from Stanford University to San Jose to Gilroy — works in the communications department.

The employee, who began showing symptoms on March 1 and left work March 2, remains hospitalized. The employee is not involved with the treatment or delivery of drinking water, and that service continues uninterrupted, officials at the district, also known as Valley Water, said Monday.

“As Valley Water continues to monitor the outbreak of COVID-19, we want to reassure our community that this virus is not impacting the safety of your drinking water, or our ability to supply water in Santa Clara County, ” CEO Norma Camacho said in a statement.

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Military Bases With Possible PFAS Water Contamination Rise. Is Yours on the List?

/in , /by /Impact2020 (Washington)by Tara Copp

The number of known military sites where cancer-linked firefighting foam may have contaminated groundwater across the United States has jumped to 651 from 401, and the cleanup bill will likely cost billions of dollars more than initially estimated, according to a new Pentagon report.

The new report was directed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper as part of his focus on PFAS contamination and lists hundreds of additional locations, many of them Army National Guard sites, in all 50 states where area groundwater may have been contaminated by the chemical compound.

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Military Sees Surge in Sites With ‘Forever Chemical’ Contamination

/in , /by /The Hill (Washington)by Rebecca Beitsch

The military now has at least 651 sites that have been contaminated with cancer-linked “forever chemicals,” a more than 50 percent jump from its last tally.

The information was released Friday in a report from the Department of Defense (DOD), part of a task force designed to help the military remove a class of chemicals known as PFAS from the water supply near numerous military bases.

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States, Utilities Pledge to Keep Water Flowing Amid Coronavirus

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Environment (Arlington, Va.)by Amena H. Saiyid

More than 100 public utilities in at least 34 states have agreed to halt the practice of cutting off water to homes that fail to pay their water bills during the coronavirus crisis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been urging people to wash their hands regularly with soap, saying it’s one of the most effective methods of keeping the Covid-19 virus at bay. But that’s only possible if a household has running water.

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CVWD Says Tap Water is Safe to Drink

/in , , /by /Coastal View News

Carpinteria Valley Water District (CVWD) released a statement on March 16 that drinking water in the district is safe and will not be interrupted. CVWD cited the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) statement that “Americans can continue to use and drink water from their tap as usual.”

California Drinking Water Regulators and the EPA have established regulations with treatment requirements for public water systems that prevent waterborne pathogens such as viruses from contaminating drinking water and wastewater, according to the CVWD statement. “COVID-19 is a type of virus that is particularly susceptible to disinfection and standard treatment and disinfectant processes are expected to be effective,” stated CVWD.

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Water Authority Takes Steps to Resolve Water Lawsuits

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Jim Madaffer Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

After securing more than $350 million for water supply projects in the San Diego region – along with other benefits – the San Diego County Water Authority’s board of directors Feb. 27 voted to dismiss related claims against its Los Angeles-based supplier, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

This is a major step toward resolving the litigation, in which we claimed water rights and challenged water rates and charges imposed by MWD on the Water Authority and the region’s ratepayers from 2010-2018. The board’s action will allow the parties to avoid a trial scheduled for June 2020 and clear the way for judgment to be entered in the older cases.

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