California Watch: Wind Power

Wind energy milestone: California now gets about 5 percent of its electricity from wind power
Mercury News: 1.31.201 by Dana Hull

California now gets about 5 percent of its electricity from wind power, according to data released Tuesday by the California Wind Energy Association.

The majority of California's electricity -- 42 percent -- comes from natural gas, followed by nuclear power and hydropower. According to 2010 figures from the California Energy Commission, wind made up 4.7 percent of the state's electricity mix and solar was 0.3 percent.

But in 2011, wind projects that generate 921 megawatts -- enough electricity for more than 400,000 homes -- were installed across the state, which the wind association says should put it above the long-sought-after 5 percent threshold. California has set an ambitious goal of getting 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, and utilities are increasingly signing contracts for renewable projects.

"2011 was a banner year for wind generation in California," said Nancy Rader, executive director of CalWEA, based in Berkeley. "Wind has come a long way and is helping to drive California closer to reaching its goal of 33 percent renewable energy."

In California, the vast majority of wind turbines are clustered in three regions: the Altamont Pass between Livermore and Tracy, Tehachapi near Bakersfield and the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs. While solar panels are visible on homes across the state, massive wind farms tucked away in windy mountain passes that many Californians never see produce much more energy. READ MORE !

Burbank - Smart Grid System

Some Glendale and Burbank residents resist new smart-grid system
L A Times: 5.17.11 by Melanie Hicken

Glendale and Burbank officials are touting their new "smart meters" project as an exciting technological advancement that will help the utilities and customers track real-time water and electrical use.

But a small group of residents is resisting, saying they're worried about the health effects of the radio waves emitted by the meters. They also say the utilities' ability to view electricity and water usage as it occurs is intrusive and could change the rate structure.

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Utility officials say residents have no reason to be concerned, citing studies that say the wireless smart meters fall within federal guidelines for radiofrequency emissions and expose residents to far less electromagnetic radiation than other common appliances.

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Officials at both utilities say they will postpone installing the meters for concerned residents while they await a ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission, which has ordered Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to create ways for customers to opt out of the new wireless meters.

Although the state commission does not regulate municipal utilities, Glendale and Burbank officials said they would probably follow the agency's direction for a potential opt-out provision.

Glendale has installed 76,000 smart meters so far, and only a dozen residents have asked to have their installation put on hold, said Ned Bassin, assistant general manager for Glendale Water & Power.

And in Burbank, where crews will begin installing the smart meters next month, even fewer concerns have been expressed, officials said. READ MORE !

Power up the 'smart meters'
The devices have sparked an irrational fear of electromagnetic radiation in the Bay Area.
L A Times: 6.05.11 - Editorial

You don't have to be a tinfoil-hat-wearing paranoiac to be worried that the electromagnetic radiation from modern wireless devices may be harmful to your health. But are the "smart meters" being installed by utilities throughout the state frying homeowners' brains, as many consumers and even municipal governments fear? The risks are vanishingly small, while the economic and environmental benefits of smart meters are wide and obvious. In fact, we wish L.A.'s municipal utility would get busy installing the devices, though that isn't likely to happen any time soon. READ MORE !

Industry Watch: Electric Vehicles

Coulomb Technologies to install 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations
LA Times: June 7, 2010 by Tiffany Hsu

California will receive about a third of the 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations that Coulomb Technologies plans to install for free around the country.

The company, based in Campbell, Calif., will immediately start setting up public and private stations in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco Bay Area. The stations will also go up in Austin, Texas; Detroit; New York; Orlando, Fla.; Redmond, Wash.; and Washington, D.C.

Once installation launches in the coming weeks, more than 1,000 stations are scheduled to be put in by December, with the rest to be in place by September 2011.

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The installations are part of a $37-million project called ChargePoint America, funded partly by a $15-million stimulus grant administered by the Department of Energy through the Transportation Electrification Initiative. Once the stations are in place, Purdue University and Idaho National Labs will analyze data about vehicle use and charging patterns.

Coulomb already has 700 stations operating around the country, with 130 customers. READ MORE !

Business Watch: American Lightning Motor Co.

Lightning in a vehicle
Rock musician is hoping to grow business converting gas-powered cars to electric. Council isn’t interested in providing seed money.
Burbank Leader: April 23, 2010 by Christopher Cadelago

Six years ago Danny Blitz bit through his tongue and cracked an industrial-strength office chair on his way to the floor.

Heralded as a “future icon” by a popular music magazine, the rock musician was selling well, appearing on television and getting radio ads across the country.

Suddenly, he couldn’t walk, could barely talk, and his left arm was out of its socket. Worse, his left hand was paralyzed.

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So began the second act in the life of a self-described “unlikely environmentalist.” Blitz grew up in Houston, the son and stepson of oil executives.

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That enthusiasm has led to American Lightning Motor Company, a fledgling gas-to-electric conversion company in search of seed money and a brick-and-mortar location. The search will have to continue after Burbank officials on Tuesday rebuffed his proposal, which sought $750,000 and up to 8,000 square feet of work space.

The Burbank City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, panned the business plan, contending that the risk was too high and the plan not specific enough. The company in exchange had pledged to convert from gas to electric a city fleet, 1955 Chevy, lighting chopper and produce a feature-length documentary in the first 180 days.

City officials referred to the plan as “glaringly inconsistent,” maintaining that it would be unwise to commit taxpayer money and serve as an incubator for a company still in concept stage.

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The roughly $20,000 conversion starts with pulling out an engine, transmission and other parts and replacing them with lithium ion nanophosphate batteries, a large electric motor and a dimmer switch where the gas pedal was.

“We are told by the auto industry to throw away our cars. But can you imagine the environmental catastrophe?” he said. “We believe that the model of the electric-car industry is flawed. Junkyards themselves are an industrial-age artifact.” READ MORE !