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​The Heated Politics of Renewable Energy

From San Diego, California, to St. Petersburg, Florida, dozens of U.S. cities are working rapidly toward 100-percent renewable energy targets, doubling down on solar and wind installations, investing in electric bus fleets, and swapping out streetlights with LEDs.
But a new study is questioning the scientific foundations of such “100-percent” commitments—and sparking heated debate.

Battery storage: The next disruptive technology in the power sector

Storage prices are dropping much faster than anyone expected, due to the growing market for consumer electronics and demand for electric vehicles (EVs). Major players in Asia, Europe, and the United States are all scaling up lithium-ion manufacturing to serve EV and other power applications. No surprise, then, that battery-pack costs are down to less than $230 per kilowatt-hour in 2016, compared with almost $1,000 per kilowatt-hour in 2010.

​50-acre solar rooftop installation up and running in San Pedro

​Los Angeles—where the sun shines three out of every four days per year—is now home to one of the largest rooftop solar installations ever constructed.
On Monday, Mayor Eric Garcetti toured the recently completed Westmont Solar Rooftop project in San Pedro, a 2 million-square-foot arrangement of solar panels that is expected to generate up to 16.4 megawatts of power for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power—enough to supply around 5,000 homes.

California invested heavily in solar power. Now there's so much that other states are sometimes paid to take it

On 14 days during March, Arizona utilities got a gift from California: free solar power.
Well, actually better than free. California produced so much solar power on those days that it paid Arizona to take excess electricity its residents weren’t using to avoid overloading its own power lines.

​Why did L.A. County create another utility?

​​Los Angeles to Study Feasibility?

As Los Angeles County moves to set up its own utility, customers will have a chance to break with longtime power provider Southern California Edison beginning in mid-2018.
The Board of Supervisors’ unanimous vote Tuesday to create the public energy program requires customers to decide whether to stay with Edison or sign up with the government operation. Los Angeles County is joining a broad shift in how electricity is produced and delivered to homes and businesses.
Here are some key questions about the effort:

County Gets A Disappointing 'C-' Grade
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In Study On Energy And Air Quality

For what seems like forever, L.A. County has gotten a bad rap as being the land of airborne pollutants. The reality, however, is a bit more nuanced. While L.A. was certainly in bad shape in the '70s and '80s (when it was common for the city to flunk modern air quality standards more than 200 days in a single year), emergency measures would gradually turn back the tide; in 2013, the city failed air quality standards on only 90 days.
So everything's on the upswing, right? Not quite, according to a recent report by researchers at UCLA. The report--2017 Sustainable LA Environmental Report Card for Energy and Air Quality—gave Los Angeles a range of grades from C- to B for its current efforts. (The study, it should be noted, focused only on L.A. County.)

​Solar Array Yields Environmental—and Economic—Rewards

Building green sometimes comes at a considerable cost, but integral green design can reduce that cost premium. A new office building in Palo Alto, California, which achieved a Platinum rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system devised by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), demonstrates that it can also benefit all of its participants economically as well as ecologically.

View Article Below:
https://urbanland.uli.org/planning-design/solar-array-yields-environmental-economicrewards/utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cu&utm_campaign=magazine
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The efforts of South Bay Clean Power have paid off. According to a recent article posted on their site, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted in favor of a study on the ramifications of Community Choice Aggregation for Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles is following the example of numerous other communities that have either already implemented similar programs, or started on the road to doing so. The text of the motion cites that “Alameda County, Santa Clara County, San Diego County and San Mateo County have each announced plans to implement CCAs.”
View Article Below:
http://www.agrgroupinc.com/energy-industry/3999/los-angeles-to-study-feasibility-of-aggregation/

​Southern California Edison to offer $450 rebate for all-electric, plug-in hybrid vehicle owners

​Southern California Edison is offering a $450 rebate to customers who own an all-electric or plug-in electric hybrid vehicle, the utility announced Monday.
The Rosemead-based investor-owned utility joined others in the state in passing along revenues they’ve received in the form of credits from the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program to customers using electricity as a low-carbon transportation fuel.
​However, EV or plug-in hybrid owners served by municipal-owned utilities in Southern California will not be getting any cash back.

​Contaminated ground water in San Gabriel
​Valley gets $250 million boost, extending cleanup until 2027

Five companies responsible for polluting the groundwater in the San Gabriel Valley have agreed to continue cleanup for another 10 years, sparing 400,000 residents higher water bills, a state agency announced Thursday.

A new, 10-year agreement signed in mid-May will continue the operation of five treatment plants within the Baldwin Park-Azusa site, one of six zones containing underground plumes of water contaminated with carcinogens that make up a portion of the largest Superfund site in the United States.