Energy

No More Blackout Blackmail: Guest Commentary

April 29, 2016 · Mark Reback

Recently, city leaders, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Gov. Jerry Brown administration energy regulators warned of “blackouts” if Aliso Canyon’s natural gas storage remains shut. They pointed to a state report, raising the blackout threat, after which Southern California Gas Co. said it would have Aliso operating again by summer.

Gas Price Panel Ponders Refiner Market Power With Summer Prices Set To Sizzle

April 27, 2016 · Jamie Court

<div class="section field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> It's probably hard to feel the sting of state gasoline prices, that are 70 cents per gallon above US prices, when you are in an ivory tower. Perhaps that's why some of the academics on California Energy Commission's Petroleum Market Advisory Committee (PMAC) are taking a slow train to recommendations about how to fix the Golden State gouge that's been causing pain at the gas pump for the last year.

After a surfboarding accident, a doctor fails to run an X-ray leading to a man’s death by brain hemorrhage.

April 25, 2016 · Evan Thomas King

Tom Steyer Wants â€˜Answersâ€™ For California Gas Price Spike

April 22, 2016 · Mark Reback

<div id="content-body-16194260-16955615"> When California lawmakers met last week to begin asking questions about the recent rise in gasoline prices, Tom Steyer took notice. Steyer, the billionaire environmental activist and Democratic mega-donor, signed his name to a letter Monday sharing his appreciation for the Senate’s preliminary probe into why gas prices rose by more than $1 a gallon in early March.

State Senate To Hold Hearings On Phony Blackout Blackmail Report

April 20, 2016 · Jamie Court

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2926" alt="" class="right" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/images_alisorollingblackouts.jpg" style="width: 120px; height: 120px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" width="120" height="120" />Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and that goes for blackout threats too.

Blackouts Could Dog LA This Summer, Agencies Warn

April 19, 2016 · Mark Reback

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Energy agencies told the LA City Council on Tuesday that customers face up to 14 days of blackouts this summer in the aftermath of this year's massive methane gas leak - an assertion a consumer group calls misleading. At a Tuesday morning council meeting, The California Independent System Operator director Tom Doughty and other energy officials outlined a plan to cope with potential blackouts in the wake of curtailed operations at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field.

Driverless and Clueless: Consumer Watchdog Battles Googleâ€™s Driverless Cars

April 14, 2016 · Mark Reback

Consumer Watchdog are fighting Google's self-driving car plans, because computers are fickle and humans are dumb

‘This is a threat. This is not a report.’ Critics Call Blackout Warnings A Scare Tactic To Keep Aliso Canyon Open

April 12, 2016 · Mark Reback

If energy agencies and utilities ever want to scare consumers, they need say little more than "blackouts."

Blackout Warnings From Porter Ranch Gas Leak Are Scare Tactics, Say Advocacy Groups

April 12, 2016 · Mark Reback

Local advocacy groups accused state regulators Tuesday of buying in to scare tactics after a report <a href="http://www.energy.ca.gov/2016_energypolicy/documents/2016-04-08_joint_agency_workshop/Aliso_Canyon_Action_Plan_to_Preserve_Gas_and_Electric_Reliability_for_the_Los_Angeles_Basin.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released last week</a> predicted 14 days of power outages and higher electricity rates in Southern California this summer if a San Fernando Valley natural gas storage facility remained offline.

Air Regulators Weigh Return of Full Operations At Exxon Mobil’s Torrance Refinery

April 1, 2016 · Mark Reback

For a year, Los Angeles area motorists have seen their gasoline prices soar as high as $1.50 a gallon more than the rest of the nation following an explosion at Exxon Mobil's Torrance refinery that destroyed the plant's pollution control system and constrained California inventories. Angry neighbors called for a permanent shutdown of the facility after reports revealed that the February 2015 explosion, which triggered state and federal investigations, could have unleashed harmful chemicals into their community.

Brown Adviser Investigated For Stock Nondisclosure

March 28, 2016 · Mark Reback

The Fair Political Practices Commission opened an investigation into Nancy E. McFadden, a former senior vice president at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., after receiving a complaint that she advised Gov. Jerry Brown on energy-related legislation and appointments to regulatory boards in 2011 and 2012 while holding $1 million in energy-related stock. The commission said it would limit its inquiry to McFadden’s failure to disclosure the stock holdings on economic interest statements in lieu of a larger conflict-of-interest investigation, citing insufficient evidence.

Governor’s Aide Is Focus Of Inquiry

March 26, 2016 · Mark Reback

State ethics panel is looking into whether Nancy McFadden failed to report the sale of stock in PG&E. The state's ethics watchdog agency has opened an investigation into whether Nancy McFadden, a top aide to Gov. Jerry Brown, failed to properly report the sale of stock in Pacific Gas & Electric Co., where she worked before joining the administration, officials said Thursday.