Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Cox unveiled new initiatives on mental health and at-risk youth Wednesday during the annual State of the County speech, part of an ambitious agenda that also includes giving young people a greater voice on policy and advancing more clean energy projects.
When workers started pulling apart the three largest hydroelectric units in North America — capable of supplying more than enough power for all of Seattle — they found the damage far worse than expected. They encountered large cracks, worn-out bearings and a defect in a critical weld that, if left in place, could fail, unleashing catastrophic flooding inside the powerhouse that risked killing workers and destroying the 7 million-pound generator-turbine units. That last discovery halted work for 10 months to give engineers time to come up with a fix that would ensure a crucial covering would hold fast. “How do we deal with the unexpected?
Is the cleanest, greenest electricity in the world green enough for California? For years, the people of the Northern San Joaquin Valley have been trying to get hydropower recognized for what it is: the original source of clean electricity. Our efforts have been stymied by people who feel entitled to decide what is, or isn’t, green enough. That’s why I have begun the process of modifying our state Constitution to recognize safe, abundant, carbon-free hydropower as a reliable source of renewable energy in our fight against climate change. I have authored Assembly Constitutional Amendment 17 to place this question before California’s voters.
California power companies have an appealing but flawed argument with the state’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2045. They want existing dams that churn out carbon free electricity to count toward that mark, making it easier and cheaper to meet their climate friendly obligations. A pending bill, SB386, sounds narrow and focused, but it’s not. It would allow the Modesto irrigation district that operates Don Pedro Dam astride the Tuolumne River to total the cranked out electricity toward its renewable energy quota. That exemption would mean less need to buy juice from solar, wind and other green sources and save money for ratepayers.
One place possesses the fourth-largest economy in the world. Another is home to the fifth-largest. Both places have instituted ambitious energy and climate goals. But one — Germany — is struggling to meet those targets and its citizens pay some of the highest electricity prices in the industrialized world. Is the German experience a cautionary tale for the other place — California? It’s a question increasingly on the minds of some energy experts in the Golden State.
Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer is facing one of the biggest decisions in his more than four years as head of the city of San Diego — whether to approve a government-run alternative to San Diego Gas & Electric. The choice, expected in coming weeks, represents a sharp fork on the road to fulfilling the mayor’s ambitious pledge of running the city on 100 percent renewable energy by 2035. The success of the city’s Climate Action Plan largely hinges on meeting the target. Within two decades, nearly half of all annual greenhouse-gas reductions achieved by the city are expected to come from increased use of renewable energy.
Representatives from the Helix Water District, San Diego Gas & Electric, and the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove on September 12 celebrated Helix’s new electric vehicle charging stations in conjunction with National Drive Electric Week and Electric Vehicle Day on September 15.
Helix installed 10 electric vehicle charging stations at the district’s operations center in El Cajon and 10 more at its administration office in La Mesa through SDG&E’s Power Your Drive program, which funded the equipment and installation.
Installing electric vehicle charging stations at its operations center and administration office is the latest cost control initiative undertaken by the Helix Water District. It received rebates of $5,500 from the State of California for each of six Toyota Prius automobiles purchase over the past two years. The vehicles average over 75 miles per gallon. The district expects to save an additional $1,000 per vehicle per year in avoided fuel costs. Integrating electric vehicles into the Helix vehicle fleet will accelerate when hybrid light-duty trucks become available.
But controlling costs isn’t the only motivation for going electric. Helix’s board of directors also wants its district to be part of the solution – to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the sustainability of the communities it serves and the sustainability of California’s water resources.
The Power Your Drive program is for companies and their employees, and apartment and condominium complexes and their residents, and is part of SDG&E’s commitment to comply with Governor Brown’s goal of having 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles in California by 2025. SDG&E has installed more than 900 electric vehicle charging nozzles to date. The power utility’s goal is to install 3,000 nozzles at about 300 sites throughout San Diego County.
Front to back: Helix board President Kathleen Hedberg, Helix Director Mark Gracyk, Lemon Grove councilwoman Jennifer Mendoza, Helix director Dan McMillan, El Cajon deputy director of public works Yazmin Arellano, SDG&E electric vehicle customer solutions manager Lianna Rios and La Mesa analyst Jenny Lybeck. Arellano and Lybeck manage their city’s climate action plan. Photo: Courtesy Helix Water District
Energy cost Helix Water District $2.2 million during the past fiscal year, primarily to pump water throughout the agency’s distribution system, which serves 275,000 people in El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Spring Valley and other unincorporated areas of the county. Controlling energy costs, and their impact on water rates, is a priority for the district.
Helix maintains operations and design standards that reduce its energy demand during peak periods when energy prices are higher, and it purchases energy through the State of California’s Direct Access Program, saving an average of 18 percent on commodity costs. The district continually evaluates opportunities to replace aging infrastructure with energy efficient solutions. Smart building systems at each of the district’s facilities and a solar energy system at its operations center further reduce energy demands and costs.
Representatives from the Helix Water District, San Diego Gas & Electric, and the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove on September 12 celebrated Helix’s new electric vehicle charging stations in conjunction with National Drive Electric Week and Electric Vehicle Day on September 15. Helix installed 10 electric vehicle charging stations at the district’s operations center in El Cajon and 10 more at its administration office in La Mesa through SDG&E’s Power Your Drive program, which funded the equipment and installation. Installing electric vehicle charging stations at its operations center and administration office is the latest cost control initiative undertaken by the Helix Water District.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed a bill requiring that 100% of California’s electricity be generated by renewables like wind and solar by 2045. The price of his green virtue won’t be cheap. “California is committed to doing whatever is necessary to meet the existential threat of climate change,” the Governor declared. “California has been doing stuff that the rest of the world is hoping to get to one day.”
California Gov. Jerry Brown is aiming for the state to be carbon-neutral by 2045. Brown signed an executive order Monday announcing the goal to eliminate carbon emissions in the state within 27 years. He also signed a bill, SB100, making the state’s electricity completely emissions-free by 2045. The bill represents an ambitious move by the world’s fifth-largest economy. “It’s impossible to overstate how significant it is for a state as large and influential as California to commit to 100 percent clean energy,” the Sierra Club said in a statement.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
