Clean Power Professionals: With Earth Day coming up this Thursday April 22, what are you working on to clean up the planet? Share your work with the community & seek out ideas/feedback!

Hi Matt, I know the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development plans to make some exciting investment announcements on Thursday about:

• Rural Water & Wastewater Infrastructure;
• Renewable Energy in Rural Communities; 
• Rural Electric Infrastructure Upgrades; and
• Biofuel Infrastructure.

I will post all the details here on Earth Day 2021. 

-Daniel

Matt, SDG&E's pledge can be dismissed as 100% substance-free marketing.

When the utility prematurely retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013, it became the single largest consumer of natural gas in San Diego County (40%). And why not? SDG&E's parent company, Sempra Inc., also owns the gas franchise importing all that gas from another Sempra franchise in Texas, on a pipeline (the El Paso Pipeline) owned by yet another Sempra franchise - none of which are regulated by California's public utility commission.

Because they charge SDG&E whatever they want, and the costs are passed through to ratepayers, it's no wonder in 2018 the utility's electricity rates were highest in the continental U.S. Worse, Sempra deliberately structured this arrangement so their financial incentive is not to conserve gas but to burn as much as possible. Should we be surprised California CO2 emissions increased by 9 million tonnes/yr?

Here's a great example just posted to Energy Central from SDG&E: SDG&E Pledges to Reach Net Zero GHG Emissions By 2045

Is your utility taking similar steps? And how are you ensuring they are followed through until delivery?