| Letter from the Executive Director With property damage in the billions, the recent Southern California fires now rank as one of the top three worst disasters in California history.
read more >> Back to the Future?
Schwarzenegger's Energy Vision for California From regulation to partial-deregulation to re-regulation and now, maybe deregulation again -- it sounds like deja vue all over again for California.
read more >> Sempra to pay $7.2 million to Settle Charges The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agreed that during the energy crisis, Sempra earned $7 million from "paper trading," or the selling back of ancillary services.
read more >> | Inside the San Diego Energy Resource Center | Featured Display Name: Street Lighting Display
Description: Contains a 188 watt high-pressure sodium lamp and ballast (150 watt lamp with 38 watt ballast) in one fixture, and a 45 watt light emitting diode (LED) unit in the other fixture. Both are mounted on a display pole at a reduced height.
Systems Addressed: Outdoor municipal lighting
Illustrates: Alternative to low-pressure and high-pressure sodium lighting, color rendition/accuracy, scotopically enhanced lighting, reduction in stray glare impacting astronomers, energy and maintenance savings. Featured Instrument  Name: Ultrawave 170
Description: Measures ultrasonic waves.
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Featured Video Name: International Competition for Sustainable Urban System Design
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Date: February, 2003 NOTE: Books, Periodicals and Videos can also be checked out free of charge. Please call Toll Free: 1-866-SDENERGY for more information.
- TOP - | Letter From the Executive Director by Irene M. Stillings With property damage in the billions, the recent Southern California fires now rank as one of the top three worst disasters in California history. Here at CCSE, we were affected in a uniquely personal way as Program Director Scott Anders' home (along with his in-laws' next door) was one of the over 2,400 that burned to ashes. While Scott and his family escaped with little more than their cars and wallets, some in his neighborhood never made it. To all those whose lives have been turned upside down, we offer our condolences, hopes and prayers.
Now the rebuilding process begins and the first priority is restoring power and phone service. Edwin A. Guiles, chairman of SDG&E states, "All fire-related electrical outages have been restored in the city of San Diego and we're continuing our efforts in the outlying areas of the county."
Restoration efforts included securing poles from as far away as Washington and Oregon, and enlisting assistance from more than 200 employees of neighboring California and Arizona utilities. Additional equipment and supplies from other utilities continue to be flown or trucked in to help restore power.
To put the restoration challenge in perspective, more than 1,700 poles were burned during the current firestorm, compared with 128 poles during last year's Pines fire. More than 300 miles of overhead wire has to be restrung, more than a one-year supply of poles, crossarms and transformers will be used to make repairs in just a few weeks, and seventeen major transmission lines are out of service and have to be rebuilt ¾ a job that normally would take months, but will be completed over the next few weeks. As of last week, SDG&E has restored electricity to 98% of those customers who lost power.
After this comes homes and buildings. From an energy perspective, CCSE would like to encourage communities and individuals to consider sustainability, efficiency and demand reduction when rebuilding. While this may be difficult in neighborhoods with architectural controls and/or homeowner associations, government might be able to help through creative permitting and legal exemptions.
Finally, we hope that our political leaders will take a good, hard look at fire supression, land management, emergency communication systems, and fire prevention issues so this kind of catastrophe doesn't happen again.
- TOP - Back to the Future?
Schwarzenegger's Energy Vision for California by Tom Geldner, CCSE From regulation to partial-deregulation to re-regulation and now, maybe deregulation again -- it sounds like deja vue all over again for California. While Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger has his plate full with our state's massive budget problems, energy is getting a lot of attention by the new administration. Since Gray Davis' freefall in public popularity started with the energy crisis of 2001 and the state's bungled attempt at deregulation, Schwarzenegger and staff believe that solving the state's ongoing energy problems will be a key component of California's economic recovery. | Government mismanagement has contributed to an energy cost crisis in California, putting the state at a competitive disadvantage, while placing a severe drag on our economy. Businesses in California now face energy rates nearly twice as high as businesses in other Western states. California residents face rates that are 61 percent higher. These high energy rates are an unacceptable burden for people who live and do business in California. And the current bureaucratic rules are making the crisis worse, instead of better." Opening paragraph of Schwarzenegger's energy policy statement. | Citing figures from the California Energy Commission below, Schwarzenegger also predicts another energy crisis by 2006 if present trends aren't reversed.
Source: California Energy Commission (January 28, 2003 Report) ( CEC) | Year | Normal Weather Planning Reserves | Hot Weather Planning Reserves | | 2003 | 22% | 16% | | 2004 | 16.7% | 10.3% | | 2005 | 16.3% | 9.9% | | 2006 | 14.2% | 7.9% | | 2007 | 12.1% | 5.9% | | 2008 | 10.2% | 4.2% | So what does the Governor-elect propopse? Interestingly enough, many of his action items are similar to what the California Center for Sustainable Energy and REPAC have advocated through SANDAG's 2003 Regional Energy Strategy. On the supply side, we've called for demand reduction, load management, siting new plants and increased emphasis on distributed generation and renewables. So does Schwarzenegger. In fact, he calls for California to reduce it's total energy consumption by 20% and sees renewable sources as a major component for meeting tomorrow's demand. However, it's in the area of "re-deregulation" where Schwarzenegger faces an uphill battle as many Democratic legislators and consumer groups have already expressed opposition to anything resembling a free market for energy. Schwarzenegger's proposals include real-time demand pricing and restoration of "direct access" for large customers along with a complete overhaul of the state's energy regulatory agencies and bureaucracies. This includes dismantling the California Power Authority and putting the emphasis on building new power plants back on private industry. The Gov.-elect also proposes redesigning the wholesale energy markets using "the lessons learned from other states and the FERC standard market design." While these and other proposals will face tough sledding, we feel they deserve a fair and open hearing. Can California let the energy genie back out the bottle? Should it? Other states have demonstrated that deregulation can work but it takes a balanced portfolio of sources, adequate supplies and fair competition. Regardless of your position, energy is too important to the future of our state to be dictated through sound bites, patchwork fixes and back-room deals. So what do you think? Send your comments to "
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". We'll publish a few of the most representative ones in our next issue. To view the complete Schwarzenegger Energy Policy statement, click here. - TOP - Sempra to pay $7.2 million to Settle Charges The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agreed that during the energy crisis, Sempra earned $7 million from "paper trading," or the selling back of ancillary services. As part of the settlement the commission staff dropped other charges, including charges that Sempra earned revenue from false energy imports or “ricochet trading” and that it forged improper partnerships or other arrangements with other power brokers.
Sempra denied any wrongdoing. A spokesperson said the company agreed to the settlement to eliminate “the distraction and expense of litigation.”
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