By Roy L Hales
California’s monopoly utilities failed in what many perceive as their latest attempt to squash community choice aggregates. Assemblyman Steven Bradford could not find a senator willing to sponsor his controversial bill. So it expired when the legislature’s current session ended, at 3 am on Friday night. California Assembly Bill 2145 is dead.
Continue reading California Assembly Bill 2145 is deadBy Roy L Hales
Governor Jerry Brown did not realize how backwards California’s solar regulations were until he visited Germany in the summer of 2013. There were 500 jurisdictions back home, each with its own requirements and charges. Some are models of efficiency. Los Angeles’ web based system can spit out an approval immediately and it only takes a day in San Diego, but there are also jurisdictions where the process drags out over the course of many weeks. As a result, the soft costs of getting a solar system in California can be eight times as they are in Germany. The Germans have a single system for the entire country. Governor Brown was impressed. So impressed that he started making inquiries about how to streamline California’s permitting process. That was how AB 2188 came into being.
Continue reading How AB 2188 came into BeingBy Roy L Hales
Germany’s renewables have set a new record. According to the Fraunhofer institute, they produced about 81 TWh, or 31% of the nation’s electricity during the first half of 2014. Solar production is up 28%, wind 19% and biomass 7% over last year. Meanwhile, with the exception of nuclear energy, all conventional sources are produced less. The output from gas powered plants was half of what it had been in 2010 and brown coal powered plants are produced at a similar level to 2010-2012.
Continue reading Germany’s Renewables Set A New RecordBy Roy L Hales
Close to 29% of Germany’s electricity, during the first half of 2014 came, from renewable sources. It was a new record. Ironically, the story was released the same day that Bloomberg published: German Utilities Bail Out Electric Grid at Wind’s Mercy. Listening to some of the critics of Energiewende, one sometimes gets the impression the nation’s utilities are on the verge of collapse. In reality, Germany has one of the World’s most efficient grids.
Continue reading Germany has one of the World’s most Efficient GridsBy Roy L Hales
It has been almost ten months since the NRG eVgo Freedom Station in the Fashion Valley Mall, in San Diego, opened. It was hailed as the first station capable of supporting “all EVs on the road”. There are now eVgo networks in Los Angeles, San Francisco, the greater Washington, D.C. area, Dallas and Houston. A company spokesperson says that, in conjunction with their new partnership with BMW, they will be installing 100 DC SAE Combo Fast Chargers in California. One of their infograms shows a band of green stretching from Washington state down through California and across America to Washington DC. Much of this is future, but eVgo is not the only charging network. Tesla’s expanding Supercharger system is expected to make their vehicle to 80% of the US public this year. Are we approaching the EV tipping point?
Continue reading Are We Approaching The EV Tipping Point?
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