Posts Tagged: storage

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.

Opinion

Solar power, like the sun, should belong to us all

Solar panels arranged in California's Mojave Desert. (Photo: Andfrei Orlov, via Shuttertstock)

OPINION: Local solar power — on our roofs and in our neighborhoods — has always been a more nimble and resilient form of clean energy, but now we know that consumer solar is also cost-effective leaving little doubt that it should  be a key element of the state’s energy transition.

Opinion

In power shutoffs, lead batteries can play critical role

A storage batter array at a power plant. (Photo: Chompunoi, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: There is a growing concern that increasing the state’s reliance on fossil-fuel backup power options already in use by many Californians will keep power on at the expense of increased emissions of toxic air contaminants and greenhouse gases. These same systems may also create additional fire risks.

Opinion

Prop.1 grants should include groundwater storage

Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge headquarters, South San Francisco Bay, Alviso.(Photo: Sundry Photagraphy)

OPINION: The California Water Commission has the opportunity to create a new paradigm for water storage that delivers more cost-effective storage and an ability to ensure there will be enough water for communities, business and public purposes –keeping our rivers alive with enough water for fish, wildlife and recreation for people. That opportunity is to include groundwater storage in Proposition 1 allocations.

Opinion

Water storage needed — but keep faith with Prop. 1

The Kern River flows through Hart Park near Bakersfield. (Photo: Richard Thornton

OPINION: The California Water Commission is currently evaluating 11 proposals that are competing for $2.7 billion of the Prop. 1 funds set aside for storage projects. In December, the applicants made their cases directly to the commissioners in Sacramento, describing their purported “public benefits” to satisfy Proposition 1’s funding requirements.

News

Money, politics and the twin tunnels

Aerial view of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. (Photo: Department of Water Resources)

Given the amount of money needed for what everyone agrees must be an expensive revamping of the state’s water infrastructure, is there room now for Gov. Jerry Brown’s heart’s desire — the $15.5 billion Twin Tunnels Project?

News

Brown, lawmakers put water bond on November ballot

Flanked by legislative leaders, Gov. Jerry Brown signs the bill putting a $7.45 billion water bond on the November ballot. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

After five years and two postponements, state lawmakers Wednesday night approved placing a $7.45 billion water bond before voters on the November ballot. The drought-era plan, backed by Gov. Brown and the Legislature, dramatically scales back and replaces the $11.14 billion borrowing that originally faced voters. Brown signed the legislation shortly after the vote.

News

Brown outlines $6 billion water bond

The dry bed of Ivanpah Lake in San Barnardino County, which had been filled by the 2004-05 rains. (Photo: Ed Berlen)

The governor, up for reelection in November, announced the plan on his campaign web site in an open letter to voters. If approved by lawmakers, it would replace the $11.14 billion water bond scheduled to go before voters in November. That bond, delayed for years, was approved in a bipartisan vote in the Legizslature and signed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

News

Water bond floats toward November*

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite, which prvides water for San Francisco. ((Photo: Nickolay Stanev)

After months of negotiations to rewrite the controversial $11.1 billion water bond on California’s November ballot, a compromise has been reached on a $10.5 billion plan that includes $3 billion for reservoirs and groundwater storage, and $1 billion for groundwater cleanup in the L.A. basin. The big question is whether Gov. Brown will approve the deal — and so far he’s not saying.

News

Water bond facing rewrites

An aerial view of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

The ink was barely dry on the governor’s budget before new legislation emerged in the Legislature to rewrite a multibillion-dollar water bond on the November ballot. Sen. Lois Wolk introduced SB 848 on Jan. 9, which would ask voters for permission to borrow some $6.475 billion for an array of water projects. Two days earlier, Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, offered amendments to his $6.5 billion water bond, AB 1331. (Above: Aerial view of the Delta. Photo: worldislandinfo.com),

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