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CWA Vote Entitlement Percentage Down For Rainbow MWD, FPUD

/in , /by /Village News (Fallbrook)by Joe Naiman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority board meeting Dec. 6 approved the 2019 vote entitlements for SDCWA member agencies, and the weighted vote for the Rainbow Municipal Water District and the Fallbrook Public Utility District will decrease from the agencies’ 2018 vote entitlements. The Rainbow Municipal Water District will have a 3.99 percent share of the CWA’s weighted vote total during calendar year 2019 board meetings. Rainbow had 4 percent of the 2018 weighed vote. FPUD’s weighted vote, which was 2.32 percent in 2018, will drop to 2.30 percent for the 2019 meetings. The U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton share of the weighted vote will remain at 0.09 percent.

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What Will Become Of The Old Carlsbad Power Plant Site?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

The seaside Encina Power Station, a Carlsbad landmark since the 1950s with its iconic boxy concrete building and 400-foot smokestack, has officially been retired to prepare for demolition. Owner NRG Energy Inc. switched off the old plant at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 11 and turned on its replacement. The new, smaller, more efficient “peaker” facility can be fired up in 10 minutes to meet the demands of a summer heat wave, a fallen transmission line or some other sudden development on the power grid.

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Water Department Refunds Over Billing Errors Have Skyrocketed

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Over the past year, San Diego’s water department refunded over $650,000 to hundreds of customers who received unjustifiably high water bills. The payouts are another sign of how water customers were affected by bad bills from the city. Over 1,100 customers received refunds this year, meaning the city overcharged the average customer by more than $500. The number and cost of refunds has dramatically risen in recent years, according to department records analyzed by Voice of San Diego and NBC 7 Responds as part of an ongoing investigation into the water department’s billing practices.

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Plan To Raise Water Rates Voted Down By Santa Fe Irrigation District Board

/in , /by /Del Mar Timesby Joe Tash

A plan to raise rates by an average of 3 percent per year over the next three years was voted down Thursday, Dec. 20, by the Santa Fe Irrigation District Board of Directors. The 3-2 vote by the board followed an eight-month process that included a series of public meetings and a rate study prepared by a consultant, which determined the district’s revenue needs in the coming years, and recommended a new rate structure to generate the additional funds.

 

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Rain Might Spritz San Diego County on Christmas Day

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

There’s a chance that a Pacific storm will blow ashore on Christmas Eve and drop 0.10” to 0.25” of rain on parts of San Diego County by the end of Christmas Day, says the National Weather Service. And that system might be followed by a second storm a couple of days later. “The models don’t agree on the Christmas forecast,” said Phil Gonsalves, a weather service forecaster. “One says rain. The other says it will be dry. We’re going with the wetter model, at the moment. “The storm wouldn’t be nearly as strong as the last couple we’ve had.”

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Water Department Refunded $8.3 Million To Water Customers Since 2015

/in , /by /NBC San Diegoby Tom Jones, Dorian Hargrove and Bob Hansen

Since 2015, San Diego’s Water Department has refunded water customers more than $8.3 million, according to new data obtained by NBC 7 Responds and media partner Voice of San Diego. The bulk of the $8.3 million refund total was paid to the U.S. Navy, which received $4.7 million in October 2017 for years of water overcharges at the Naval base facilities in Point Loma. A spokesperson for the city confirmed the refund was issued in late 2017 after it was discovered that water passing through the Navy’s water meter, tied to the Point Loma facility account, was delivered to water customers across the city. This resulted in the Navy paying for water it did not use.

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San Diego Says Number of Lead Service Lines in City Likely Less Than 1%

/in , /by /NBC San Diegoby Tom Jones

San Diego’s Public Utilities Department is responding quickly to recent reports on the possibility of the city’s water lines being made out of lead. Last week, as reported by NBC 7, San Diego’s Water Department had informed California’s Water Board that it couldn’t identify the materials used to make two-thirds of its service lines. The city’s disclosure differed from statements it had made to NBC 7 and media partner Voice of San Diego last year. At that time, a senior water department chemist said there were no lead pipes in the city’s distribution system.

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City’s Dispute With SDG&E Could Add $48M to the Cost of Pure Water Project

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

In recent months, the city and San Diego Gas & Electric have tussled over the future of energy in San Diego. Now, they’re in a multimillion-dollar dispute over the largest local water project in modern history. The city is working on a $1.4 billion water recycling project, known as a Pure Water. A new water treatment plant will eventually purify enough sewage to provide a third of the city’s drinking water. To build the plant and connect it to the rest of the city’s water system, the city must move some of SDG&E’s equipment.

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California is aiming For 100% Clean Energy. But Los Angeles Might Invest Billions In Fossil Fuels

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is leaning toward spending billions of dollars to rebuild three aging gas-fired power plants, even as California aims to eliminate fossil fuels, a goal endorsed by Mayor Eric Garcetti. Consultants hired by the utility say the city should invest those ratepayer dollars in continuing to burn natural gas at the Scattergood, Harbor and Haynes power plants along the coast. The utility’s staff agrees, saying that batteries charged with solar or wind power aren’t yet cheap or reliable enough to replace the gas plants, which are critical to keeping the lights on.

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Farm Bill Offers A Chance At Salton Sea Funding

/in , /by /Imperial - San Diego Currentsby Darren Simon

With the passage of the Federal Farm Bill by both the Senate and House (December 12 and 13 respectively) and hopefully a signature of support to come from the White House soon, another opportunity has arisen to help fund restoration efforts at the Salton Sea. After the failure of Prop. 3 during the November election, which amounts to a $200 million loss for the sea, a spark of positive funding news is good to hear. While there is no guarantee of funding for the sea in the Farm Bill (nor is the sea even mentioned) there is a provision for environmental projects for which the sea could qualify for funding.

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