Posts Tagged: electric

News

Electric vehicles, fine, but hydrogen fuel cell cars are even better

A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle fills up with H2 at one of the scarce fueling stations. (Photo: ezps, via Shutterstock)

Driving a fuel-cell car means hunting for stations, dealing with shortages and managing an unfamiliar nozzle that sometimes freezes to the car — but Sen. Josh Newman loves it. 
“I’m the self-appointed chair of the ‘Hydrogen Car Caucus,’” said the senator from Orange County, whose personal car is a 2021 Toyota Mirai. Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine and Asssemblymember Bill Quirk, D-Hayward also drive, and advocate for, hydrogen vehicles.

Opinion

Specialized training crucial for battery energy storage

An array of electrical storage batteries flanked by solar and wind energy devices. (Photo: petrmalinak, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: As a former member of the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), and a licensed C-10 electrical contractor with more than 57 years in the industry, the importance of proper training and expertise necessary to protect the safety of workers, our customers and their properties cannot be overstated.

News

Lawmakers okay $2.7 billion for zero-emission vehicles

An electric vehicle getting power at a street charging station. (Photo: guteksk7, via Shuttertstock)

California lawmakers have approved a dramatic expansion of the state’s commitments to all-electric vehicles, with the goal of ultimately increasing the number of electric and zero-emission cars on the road. The $2.7 billion piece of the 2021-22 state budget was sent to the Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk on June 28. Newsom has not yet acted on it.

News

Electric vehicles in the fast lane

An electric vehicle gets a battery recharge at the L.A. Auto Show. Photo: Juan Camilo Bernal)

By the time today’s infants are in their early 30s, gasoline-powered cars that aren’t electric hybrids could be a rarity in California. That’s the goal of California policy makers who are doing their best to phase those cars out by 2050 and replace them with zero-emissions vehicles like electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

News

The utilities’ new electric transportation infrastructure

A black-and-white view of smoggy Century City, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. (Photo: trekandshoot)

OPINION: Squinting into the smog, our state’s utilities have seen the future — and it’s not fossil fuels. Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric revealed plans to invest $1 billion to build a comprehensive electric transportation infrastructure.

News

Electric car bill gets unplugged

AN electric car takes juice at the L.A. Auto Show. (Photo: Juan Camilo Barnal)

A hasty attempt to boost electric vehicle sales in California – an idea the governor likes – died in the final days of the legislative session amid intense lobbying and fast-approaching deadlines.

Opinion

Clean up the air, drive electric

A VW bus converted to electric power, displayed last year in Beverly Hills. (Photo: Phil Pilosian)

If you’ve ever been behind the wheel of an electric vehicle, you know that they’re really fun to drive. Many Californians have discovered the joys of electric drive, as our state is nearing 200,000 plug-in vehicles sold, and accounted for more than half of all the EVs sold in the U.S. last year. But we need to ramp up sales of these advanced technology vehicles in order to clean up our air, reduce our dangerous dependency on petroleum, and stabilize the climate.

News

Michael Peevey’s tale of turmoil

Michael Peevey at a December meeting of the state Public Utilities Commission. (Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)

It’s almost impossible these days to see the name Michael Peevey without the word “embattled” attached to it. Peevey stepped down last December after serving two six-year terms on the California Public Utilities Commission, almost all of them as PUC president. He has been subjected to withering public criticism up and down the state for fostering a too-cozy relationship between the PUC and the utility firms he was charged with regulating, most recently Pacific Gas & Electric. “Don’t shoot, I surrender,” Peevey wryly told the commission at its December meeting, a comment that drew laughs.

Opinion

Clean air: Charging ahead with electric vehicles

A traffic jam in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: Prayitno, Wikimedia)

OPINION: Cleaning up the air is a big challenge, so everyone needs to be part of the solution. Now is the time for elected leaders and residents around the state to join the American Lung Association and charge ahead to electric cars instead of guzzling gas.

News

PG&E hit with $1.4 billion penalty

A devastated zone in San Bruno following the 2010 gas pipeline explosion. (Photo: Brocken Inaglory)

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. should pay an unprecedented $1.4 billion in fines and penalties stemming from the 2010 gas pipeline blast in San Bruno that killed eight people and destroyed three dozen homes, state regulators ruled. Penalties against PG&E stemming from the explosion now exceed $2 billion – the $1.4 billion announced Tuesday and $635 million from an earlier decision involving aging pipelines.

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