Florida nuclear power plant in San Onofre's footsteps?

Thank you for sharing this here. Please replace the name Ferron above with Picker, to reflect the recent resignation of the former and appointment of the latter.
— February 25, 2014 1:07 p.m.

Study: CPUC and Edison collaborated to scam ratepayers

I am glad that Mike Aguirre and Mia Severson filed the Motion with the CPUC this week, which contains the "report" you reference, Don. This Motion builds upon fillings made by several Intervenors in this CPUC Investigation into the San Onofre Outage since the CPUC launched it late last year; as well as the cross-examinations and statements made by those of us who participated in the CPUC's first round of Evidentiary Hearings in mid-May. Mike and Mia are adding their voices to those of the grassroots Coalition to Decommission San Onofre, which I and Ray Lutz represent, as well as Women's Energy Matters, the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, TURN and World Business Academy. We all filed Opening Briefs on July 28th which the Aguirre/Severson Motion amplify, and the Division of Ratepayer Advocates filed a Motion on June 25th calling for immediate removal from rate base of San Onofre Plant costs; our Coalition filed a Reply in support of this Motion this past Monday, and added additional demands to streamline the CPUC's process and focus on reducing the ratepayers' burden for this SCE mgt debacle, in which SDG&E is complicit as minority owner. Good to see Mike and Mia weighing in, too.
— July 5, 2013 1:43 p.m.

Southern California Edison prepares draft license amendment for San Onofre

San Onofre hasn't been 'the largest source of baseload generation and voltage support in the region,' as Edison repeatedly claims, for the past 14 months and counting, and the CA Independent System Operator (ISO) says we'll do just fine without it for the second Southern California summer upcoming. For example, voltage support will be provided by retrofitting the retired, Edison-owned Huntington Beach power plant as a 'synchronous condenser' ... Per the CA Energy Commission, despite increased population and more appliances consuming power in homes and businesses, energy efficiency standards have helped keep per capita electricity consumption in California flat for the past 30 years. California's per capita electricity consumption has remained constant at approximately 7,000 kilowatt-hours/year (kWh) for the last 30 years due in large part to strict standards for homes and appliances. The rest of the U.S. has increased 40 percent (to roughly 12,000 kWh/year per person). And there is even more savings to be gained through additional advances in energy efficiency as well as conservation by users. Not to mention the boom in rooftop solar installations, with San Diego County leading the state. Edison needs to stop with the Chicken Little routine -- the sky is NOT falling. The 21st Century is just moving forward. As of last summer, California generates 1,255 MW of electricity from 122,516 rooftops (more than one of the San Onofre Nuclear Reactors). Rooftop solar installation can be done in a matter of months, and the CA Air Resources Board estimates that 150 permanent jobs are created for each 100 megawatt (MW) of local solar added. As an indication of the growth potential of this job sector, in San Diego County, we have only installed 2% (or 140 MW) of rooftop and parking lot capacity -- this is a GROWTH industry! Here is a weblink to our letter faxed to Senator Boxer and Congressman Waxman today, with cc's to Senator Feinstein, NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane and several senior NRC managers, including those responsible for the decison on Restart of San Onofre, Eric Leeds and Art Howell. http://sanonofresafety.files.wordpress.com/2013/0… The Coalition to Decommission San Onofre is comprised of community-based, grassroots organizations in San Diego and Orange Counties concerned for the safety of 8.5 million residents living within 50 miles of the defective San Onofre nuclear reactors, and for the economy of Southern California. These organizations include: Citizens Oversight, Earthkeepers San Diego, the Peace Resource Center of San Diego, San Clemente Green, SanOnofreSafety.org, and Women Occupy San Diego.
— April 2, 2013 12:34 p.m.

Peevey, supposed to be neutral, pushed secretly for Pio Pico

Actually, the utilities' donations to non-profits don't flow through the CPUC. Their largesse to nonprofits is above and beyond the ratepayer-funded programs administered by the CPUC, which are assuredly NOT "voluntary" but are mandated by state law and/or CPUC order. But this IS a good explanation for the scripted supporters who show up on-call when the utilities are threatened -- such as the San Onofre Investigation.
— March 4, 2013 6:24 a.m.

Peevey, supposed to be neutral, pushed secretly for Pio Pico

The 3/20 CPUC Stakeholders Meeting would seem to run afoul of the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, from reading the CA Attorney General's Guide to the same, to wit: RE Contacts by the Public: "So long as the body does not solicit or orchestrate such contacts, they would not constitute a violation of the Bagley-Keene Act. Whether its good policy for a body to allow these individual contacts to occur is a different issue." "Conferences and Retreats: Conferences are exempt from the Act’s coverage so long as they are open to the public and involve subject matter of general interest to persons or bodies in a given field. (§ 11122.5(c)(2).) While in attendance at a conference, members of a body should avoid private discussions with other members of their body about subjects that may be on an upcoming agenda. However, if the retreat or conference is designed to focus on the laws or issues of a particular body it would not be exempt under the Act."
— March 3, 2013 9:06 a.m.

Newsom's San Diegans of interest

Thank you, Gavin Newsom, for driving yet another principled public servant out of a position sorely needing one.
— March 2, 2013 10:17 a.m.

Peevey, supposed to be neutral, pushed secretly for Pio Pico

We're ON it! Thanks for posting that link, vitalinfo!
— March 1, 2013 5:29 p.m.

Peevey, supposed to be neutral, pushed secretly for Pio Pico

Just learned about this from a fellow activist, by the time I RSVP'd, one of the 20-person "Stakeholder Groups" was already full. As Press, Don, you should be able to get in regardless, right? http://www.cleantechsandiego.org/component/jevent… The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is holding meetings in San Diego in order to provide access to the CPUC Commissioners and staff. There will be a full commission business meeting on March 21. This is a noticed meeting open to all members of the public. As a member of San Diego's cleantech community, you are invited to a series of stakeholder meetings the day before, on March 20, at the Scripps Seaside Forum. These meetings are less formal working meetings that allow you to bring your policy suggestions or concerns directly to all five Commissioners. This is a chance to discuss State policy—and how it affects our region—directly with the decision makers at the CPUC. To date, the Commissioners have participated in four of these regional stakeholders meetings throughout the state. Participants will be grouped according to three specific topics: energy efficiency/renewable energy, infrastructure and safety (subject to change). Attendees will be split into three groups of 20. Each group will have a chance to meet with every Commissioner and the directors, advisors and staff of various CPUC divisions. Commissioners will start meetings at 10:00am and will meet with each group for 90 minutes. The commissioners and their staff will then move to the next group, repeating this until each group of Commissioners has met with each group of stakeholders. This is an all-day event and lunch will be provided. Please note all ex parte rules apply and must be observed. Should you be interested in attending this invitation-only event please email Drew Cheney at [email protected]. They can only accommodate 60 participants, so please RSVP to Drew as soon as possible. What: Stakeholder meeting with CPUC Commissioners and staff When: Wednesday, March 20th; pre-meetings start at 9:00am, Commissioners arrive at 10:00am Where: Scripps Seaside Forum, 8610 Kennel Way La Jolla, CA 92037 Parking: About a 3-5 minute walk to the Scripps Forum - Kellogg Park, Free Parking Area. Map - http://goo.gl/maps/Vy1iI
— March 1, 2013 2:03 p.m.

Peevey, supposed to be neutral, pushed secretly for Pio Pico

He can't remove him as a Commissioner, but he CAN appoint another CPUCommr as President, which would at least be a start to restoring some level of credibility to the CPUC IF the new President isn't tainted by ethical lapses as well (e.g., Peterman).
— March 1, 2013 12:55 p.m.

Peevey, supposed to be neutral, pushed secretly for Pio Pico

Gov. Brown CAN strip Peevey of the Presidency of the Commission on his own, and appoint another of the 4 CPUCommissioners. As you have pointed out here, it should NOT be Carla Peterman given her failure to stick to her instincts about the conflict of interest inherent in voting on Pio Pico as a CPU Commissioner when she authored a favorable report on the same project as a CA Energy Commissioner. Public Utilities Code Sec. 305: "The Governor shall designate a president of the commission from among the members of the commission. The president shall direct the executive director, the attorney, and other staff of the commission, except for the staff of the division described in Section 309.5 [NOTE: Division of Ratepayer Advocates], in the performance of their duties, in accordance with commission policies and guidelines. The president shall preside at all meetings and sessions of the commission."
— March 1, 2013 10:41 a.m.