SJV Clean Energy - Sustainable Communities Blog

Fresnans try to clear path for electric vehicles

2010-02-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

Fresnans try to clear path for electric vehicles

Posted at 11:27 PM on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010

By E.J. Schultz / Bee Capitol Bureau

They are inexpensive, clean and reach a top speed of 25 mph. In other words, a golf cart on steroids.

The official name is "neighborhood electric vehicles" -- and supporters say they are a perfect match for Fresno.

"We've got flat topography and fairly high gas prices and pretty bad air," said Jeff Roberts, a vice president at Granville Homes, which is pushing the idea because it promotes the cars in its private Copper River Ranch development in north Fresno. "I think in the Valley it's a good fit."

One problem: The cars are prohibited on streets with speed limits of more than 35 mph.

So Roberts has persuaded the city of Fresno to seek permission from the state to develop a neighborhood electric vehicle plan that would clear the way for special lanes, signs and other upgrades required to allow the mini-cars on more city streets.

The City Council unanimously passed a resolution last year supporting the idea, and Assembly Member Mike Villines this month introduced legislation to make it happen. Only a handful of cities in the state now have the authorization.

"This is cutting-edge. We'll be the largest city and the first city in the Central Valley to do this," said Villines, R-Clovis, whose Assembly Bill 1781 still requires Senate and Assembly approval.

Granville's Copper River Ranch development has about five miles of lanes for neighborhood electric vehicles, or NEVs, with plans to triple that figure.

Roberts said he envisions the city adding special lanes on surrounding public streets, so residents can use the cars for quick trips to the store.

City Engineer Scott Mozier said Fresno also might target the neighborhood near Fig Garden Golf Club and possibly even downtown. But changes will come slowly, he warned. "The city does not have the funding to go out and widen streets to accommodate NEVs."

More likely, officials would find ways to add the lanes on streets that have extra space, he said. The cars would not mingle with regular traffic.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said there are some safety concerns because the cars are not built to withstand high-speed collisions with normal cars. But he generally supports the proposal if it's implemented on a limited basis.

"I think there's a way to do it and at the same time keep motorists safe," he said. "It just requires some creativity."

NEVs must meet federal performance standards and are equipped with safety features such as seat belts, turn signal lamps and parking brakes. The cars plug into a regular wall outlet and reach speeds of 20 mph to 25 mph. Chrysler's latest GEM models can run up to 30 miles on a single charge, according to the company's Web site.

At Fresno retailer Central Valley Golf & Utility Vehicles, officials recently applied for a license to sell NEVs to meet growing demand. The store plans to sell Club Car brand cars for between $8,000 and $11,000, said company president Lew Solomon. Part of the demand is the result of federal stimulus legislation, which created a tax credit of up to $2,500 for low-speed electric vehicles.

Among California cities, the NEV leader is Lincoln in Placer County. The cars were originally a hit with retirees but younger families are now using them, said Mayor Tom Cosgrove.

State lawmakers cleared the city to create NEV plans in a 2004 bill that also extended the authority to nearby Rocklin. Lincoln, population 40,060, is now home to about 7 miles of NEV lanes, and about 700 residents own the cars, Cosgrove said.

"They're a little bit more convenient than driving a conventional automobile, and people kind of like the pace," he said.

THE REPORTER CAN BE REACHED AT ESCHULTZ@FRESNOBEE.COM OR (916) 326-5541

ANDREW TANG: PG&E committed to its energy customers

2010-02-19T09:45:00.001-08:00

Run as an op-ed in The Fresno Bee
http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/wo/story/1827585.html
Posted at 12:00 AM on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010
By Andrew Tang

Businesses across California and around the world are laying the foundation for a Smart Electrical Grid, using today's technology to help keep energy supply and demand in balance and keep everyone's energy costs as low as possible.

Without a more resilient and technologically advanced electrical grid, we will not be able to support the increasing energy demands of the multiple computers and ever-larger TVs we have come to expect, as well as the plug-in cars of tomorrow. One way that utilities are helping this transformation is by providing advanced, next-generation energy meters for our homes and businesses.

At PG&E, we have installed nearly 5 million of the world's 70 million devices in use every day, and we believe this technology is a sound investment for our customers, our economy and our environment.

Over time, PG&E's SmartMeter technology will provide families and businesses with hour-by-hour energy usage information, helping to identify when the most energy is being used, and pointing to ways to save money each month.

It's unfortunate that some people in the media see the rollout of this technology as an opportunity to create fear and spread misinformation.

Digital metering technology has been in use since the 1980s. What's new in a Smart Grid system is how the meters and the electrical grid communicate information back to PG&E in real time, much like a traffic report tells you where roads are closed and traffic is backed up, and how customers can use that information to adjust their hour-by-hour usage to save money.

Like any new technology, PG&E's rollout of millions of new gas and electric SmartMeter devices into the Smart Grid may experience occasional bumps in the road. We are committed to resolving any issues that arise during this implementation and adoption phase and we invite anyone that has questions or notices anything out of the ordinary on their monthly bills to call us at (866) 743-0263.
Recently, an editorial cartoon in The Fresno Bee gave the impression that PG&E is using the SmartMeter program to profit from selling more energy to customers. This is simply not true.
Under California law, utilities like PG&E do not make more money when our customers use more energy. Rather, we make money when customers save energy. In this era of tight budgets and energy conservation, this approach is not only smart, it has saved consumers billions of dollars by preventing the need for additional -- and expensive -- power generation.

At PG&E, we work hard to help our customers conserve and be energy efficient. We do this through innovative programs like PG&E's SmartRate, which helps customers moderate their summer electricity bills.

This past summer, nearly 70% of SmartRate customers saved on their energy bills by making small changes that reduced their energy usage between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. during as many as 15 days throughout the entire summer.

SmartMeter devices are like any other technology that offers customers more information and more convenience. The future offers a world of even more convenience and information to help manage energy costs.

Already, PG&E customers enrolled in our SmartAC program can use their smartphone devices to turn on, or off, their heating and air conditioning. In the future, Smart Grid technology will allow you to control a new generation of smart appliances in your home.

As we work to modernize the more than 100-year-old electric grid and support the increasing energy demands of the future, we are striving to provide our customers with more information about rates, energy efficiency measures and financial assistance programs. Each day we are putting more information about these topics on www.pge.com.

Even so, we realize that these benefits won't appear overnight. Throughout this new technology rollout, we are committed to working with our customers to adapt to this new technology and communicate the important role that PG&E's SmartMeter devices will play in the development of a Smart Grid throughout the Central Valley.

ANDREW TANG IS SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER CARE AT PG&E.

A FIRST for Fresno

2010-02-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

Cities in Fresno County have the distinction of participating in a pilot program that enables homeowners to finance energy-efficiency and water-improvement improvements via property taxes.

The recently created CaliforniaFIRST plan will allow property owners to tailor improvements - anything from solar panels to new windows to tankless water heaters - according to their financial ability. The cost is then added to the property tax bill and repaid over 20 years.

The loan transfers to the new owner if the house is sold.

The program is expected to roll out in Fresno County in June.

When it launches, homeowners will be able to use an online portal to investigate possible improvements, calculate costs, find eligible contractors and research local programs that provide incentives and education on energy and water efficiency, according to officials at Renewable Funding, which helps administer the program.

In Sonoma County, which is participating in the program, the upgrades are running between $10,000 and $30,000 per property. About $40 million worth of applications have been submitted, with individual property taxes running an additional $50 to $200 per month, said Cisco DeVries, president of Renewable Funding.

The program is a way for homeowners to reduce energy bills without breaking the pocketbook, said Henry T. Perea, the Fresno city councilman who supported the plan.

"This is a tremendous partnership and I am looking forward to seeing how this will improve the landscape of Fresno," he said. "This is an important step toward making Fresno an environmentally sustainable city."

FresnoBee.com, News Blog, Posted by Sandy Nax at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sandy Nax covers real estate and business for The Fresno Bee. He can be reached at 441-6495 or snax@fresnobee.com

City of Tulare's liquid natural gas fuel station may open to public

2010-01-25T09:12:00.000-08:00

BY LUIS HERNANDEZ
lhernand@visalia.gannett.com

*originally run in the Visalia Times Delta, www.visaliatimesdelta.com

Privately owned trucks and cars could soon join Tulare city buses and garbage trucks in fueling up at the city's liquefied-natural-gas station.

Clean Energy, the company that provides fuel to the station, is proposing investing $500,000 in the city-owned fueling station, taking over station management and opening it to the public, said Tulare Public Works Director Lew Nelson.

The city uses LNG to power buses and garbage trucks, and Compressed Natural Gas for other city vehicles.

Under the proposal, Clean Energy would:

Add fuel dispensers and replace them if necessary.

Upgrade Compressed Natural Gas pressure and storage capacity.

Increase LNG storage capacity.

The proposal also calls for Clean Energy to:

Set retail prices for fuel sales.

Pay the city a royalty per gallon sold to privately owned vehicle.

Maintain the station.

Clean Energy could seek state funding to pay for the improvements.

Nelson said having an outside vendor responsible for maintenance would relieve fleet maintenance workers from such duty.

"While we have so far avoided being unable to fuel due to

maintenance problems, there have been some close calls in the past," he said.

Tulare would continue buying LNG from Clean Energy, which already operates stations in Southern California.

The city will continue owning the station.

Help replacing some trucks possible

Once the improvements are made, Clean Energy would work with local milk-carrying fleets to access grant money to replace diesel trucks with LNG-powered trucks.

A 15-liter engine that runs on LNG and is capable of hauling freight over the Grapevine has been introduced, Nelson said.

That would make using the fuel more attractive.

"There are many benefits to the local fleets from use of LNG fuel instead of diesel, including operating cost per mile and reduced air emissions," Nelson said.

Tulare City Manager Darrel Pyle said improvements at the gas-fueling station could lead to a new tax revenue for local coffers. "That could be an interesting revenue source," he said.

Additional Facts

Streetlight Retrofit for Orange Cove

2010-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

LED lights to be added here

By Lorie Ham
Mid Valley Publishing

Published: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 6:28 PM PST

Thanks to the assistance of the San Joaquin Valley Energy Partnership, Orange Cove will be able to retrofit streetlights with energy efficient LED lights.

Orange Cove has received $60,082 for the project. A proposal to hire Green Stem, Inc. for the LED Energy Retrofitting services is on the agenda for the Dec. 9 meeting of the Orange Cove City Council and Redevelopment Agency.

The San Joaquin Valley Energy Partnership was formed to assist small jurisdictions in accessing federal stimulus funds for energy efficiency programs, according to Tom Jordon, Senior Policy Advisor, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD). SJVAPCD and the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization lead this partnership to maximize access, services, and resources from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program through the California Energy Commission.

Retrofitting of the streetlights will reduce the City’s energy consumption on those lights by 50 percent.

A proposal to develop the Partnership was presented to and approved by the SJVAPCD in August of 2009 with the idea that while EECBG funds were needed for these type of projects, many smaller jurisdictions would be limited by the high level of administrative requirements to be able to pursue those funds on their own.

The EECBG Program was created by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provides $787 billion in economic investment nationally, for the purpose of stimulating the economy. The California Energy Commission (CEC) received $49.6 million for the state portion of this program. State law requires the CEC to use no less than 60 percent of it’s EECBG Program funds for reallocation to small cities and counties which are defined as incorporated cities with populations of 35,000 or less, or small counties with populations of 200,000 or less.

Many other area cities are also eligible for EECBG Program funds. Among these are Fowler for $30,424, Parlier for $76,026, and Sanger for $145,895.

Hawaii in early stages of energy revolution

2009-12-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

By John King, CNN Chief National Correspondent

Honolulu, Hawaii (CNN) -- It was an energy audit at work that first nudged Susan Chandler to think green.

"The first thing I did was change all my light bulbs" to energy-efficient models, Chandler said during a recent visit to her Honolulu home. "Then I started tracking my energy bill."

She began walking into rooms her husband and son had just left to turn off the lights. A significant cutback in the use of the clothes dryer was another step. Still, Chandler said she wanted to do more.

"So I put up the panels."

Six solar panels were installed on the angled roof of her hillside home, which has a breathtaking view of downtown Honolulu, Waikiki Beach and the famous Diamond Head rock formation.

"We've got terrific tax credits in the state, as well as from the federal government, so it's not that expensive," Chandler said. "And I'm into just saving energy."

And into saving money.

Hawaii's electricity rates are the highest in the nation. A year ago, Chandler's monthly power bill topped $100. Her most recent bill was $36.

That's a big financial plus, but what Chandler said she enjoys the most is the evidence of how she is cutting her carbon footprint.

She makes a daily trip to a shed, where the solar panels are connected to an inverter box. An LED screen provides constant updates on how much power the panels are generating and how much in carbon dioxide emissions has been eliminated using solar instead of fossil fuels. Inside, there is another monitor on the wall in her home office, and she also can check a Web site to track both her production and her environmental impact.

"It shows you graphically," Chandler said. "They have these cute little things about how I've saved as much as if I was planting four trees, or not driving 415 miles. So you get to see each day what your energy production is."

She said, "Why everybody doesn't do this, I don't quite understand."

Chandler said more friends and neighbors are taking the initiative and finding ways to cut back consumption and find alternative energy resources. But she also said state, federal and international governments should do more than provide tax incentives for purchasing things such as hybrid cars or solar panels.

"I can't say that I can explain cap and trade particularly, " Chandler said. "But I'm certainly aware of the president going to Copenhagen, and I believe we have influenced climate change and that we definitely have to change our behaviors and our usage of energy so that we can reverse some of the damage that's done and not continue it. And, yeah, it's got to be a global effort."

Hawaii already is in the early stages of what it hopes will be an energy revolution.

At the moment, imported oil accounts for 90 percent of the remote state's energy needs, a major reason its electricity costs are so high. The state's ambitious goal is to generate 70 percent of its power from clean energy sources by 2030, and it is looking everywhere.

Solar is one component. State law now requires all new homes being built in 2010, at a minimum, include a solar system for heating hot water.

Biofuels is another, including fuel derivatives from sugar cane.

Water is yet another abundant resource that Hawaii sees as part of its energy future.

"Our source is renewable -- infinitely renewable," said Tom Wilkolak, chief operating officer of Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning.

The company is in the early stages of a $200 million construction project that includes building pipes that extend nearly four miles off the Honolulu shoreline to extract ocean water, bring it to shore and then run it through miles of pipe onshore to cool roughly 40 of the downtown's largest buildings.

Wilkolak said it will be equal to or less than the cost of electricity now, with a major environmental plus -- offsetting about 178,000 barrels of oil a year.

Wind is another ample resource, though it took a spike in oil prices to the $150 a barrel range a few years ago to diminish the opposition to the 20-turbine wind farm that now sits on hillside conservation land overlooking Maui.

"That was very helpful to everyone's understanding of how important clean energy is," said Noe Kalipi, director of government and community relations for First Wind.

Some locals still don't like the nearly 200-foot high turbines, but to others they are nicknamed the "angels on the mountain."

The 20 turbines up and running have sensors that tell them to turn automatically to capture the wind in the most efficient manner. They run only part of the time because of technical issues related to Maui's electricity grid. Still, they provide power to 11,000 homes on Maui, roughly 9 percent of its power needs.

There are plans in the works to double nearly the number of turbines at the Maui location, and other wind farms are in the planning stages across the state.

"It is a very important piece of the future," Kalipi said. "Valid sustainability, valid tangible proof that we can harness robust renewable resources to be able to generate electricity for our use."

A new energy source, but this wind farm and those like it make only a modest contribution to what many -- including President Obama -- have predicted will be a "green jobs revolution."

About 200 workers were hired during the construction phase, but there are only seven full-time employees at the wind farm today, and three of those jobs are to make sure First Wind keeps its commitment to protect endangered species and upgrade and conserve lands on which the wind farm sits.

To see them up close is a fascinating glimpse at one piece of Hawaii's energy future -- and the nation's energy debate.

Each turbine has a computer station in its base that tracks its energy output and its maintenance needs. To get to the top requires climbing nearly 200 feet up a ladder in a cramped tubelike passageway. Near the top sits the massive turbine that generates electricity as the wind turns the giant blades.

And just a few more steps up from that is a hatch to the top, where, in this case, a visitor gets a bird's eye view of the neat line of turbines on a hillside and a spectacular panoramic view of Maui's breathtaking landscape.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/18/king.sotu.hawaii/index.html?eref=rss_politics&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_allpolitics+%28RSS%3A+Politics%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

The Energy Challenge | No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in 'Passive Houses'

2008-12-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Reprinted from the New York Times
Rolf Oeser for The New York Times

Berthold Kaufmann and his wife, Dorte Feierabend, with their daughters in their "passive house" in Darmstadt, Germany.

ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: December 26, 2008

DARMSTADT, Germany — From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the stylish new gray and orange row houses in the Kranichstein District, with wreaths on the doors and Christmas lights twinkling through a freezing drizzle. But these houses are part of a revolution in building design: There are no drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no furnace.
The Energy Challenge
Articles in this series are examining the ways in which the world is, and is not, moving toward a more energy efficient, environmentally benign future.
In Berthold Kaufmann’s home, there is, to be fair, one radiator for emergency backup in the living room — but it is not in use. Even on the coldest nights in central Germany, Mr. Kaufmann’s new “passive house” and others of this design get all the heat and hot water they need from the amount of energy that would be needed to run a hair dryer.
“You don’t think about temperature — the house just adjusts,” said Mr. Kaufmann, watching his 2-year-old daughter, dressed in a T-shirt, tuck into her sausage in the spacious living room, whose glass doors open to a patio. His new home uses about one-twentieth the heating energy of his parents’ home of roughly the same size, he said.
Architects in many countries, in attempts to meet new energy efficiency standards like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard in the United States, are designing homes with better insulation and high-efficiency appliances, as well as tapping into alternative sources of power, like solar panels and wind turbines.
The concept of the passive house, pioneered in this city of 140,000 outside Frankfurt, approaches the challenge from a different angle. Using ultrathick insulation and complex doors and windows, the architect engineers a home encased in an airtight shell, so that barely any heat escapes and barely any cold seeps in. That means a passive house can be warmed not only by the sun, but also by the heat from appliances and even from occupants’ bodies.
And in Germany, passive houses cost only about 5 to 7 percent more to build than conventional houses.
Decades ago, attempts at creating sealed solar-heated homes failed, because of stagnant air and mold. But new passive houses use an ingenious central ventilation system. The warm air going out passes side by side with clean, cold air coming in, exchanging heat with 90 percent efficiency.
“The myth before was that to be warm you had to have heating. Our goal is to create a warm house without energy demand,” said Wolfgang Hasper, an engineer at the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt. “This is not about wearing thick pullovers, turning the thermostat down and putting up with drafts. It’s about being comfortable with less energy input, and we do this by recycling heating.”
There are now an estimated 15,000 passive houses around the world, the vast majority built in the past few years in German-speaking countries or Scandinavia.
The first passive home was built here in 1991 by Wolfgang Feist, a local physicist, but diffusion of the idea was slowed by language. The courses and literature were mostly in German, and even now the components are mass-produced only in this part of the world.
The industry is thriving in Germany, however — for example, schools in Frankfurt are built with the technique.
Moreover, its popularity is spreading. The European Commission is promoting passive-house building, and the European Parliament has proposed that new buildings meet passive-house standards by 2011.
The United States Army, long a presence in this part of Germany, is considering passive-house barracks.
“Awareness is skyrocketing; it’s hard for us to keep up with requests,” Mr. Hasper said.
Nabih Tahan, a California architect who worked in Austria for 11 years, is completing one of the first passive houses in the United States for his family in Berkeley. He heads a group of 70 Bay Area architects and engineers working to encourage wider acceptance of the standards. “This is a recipe for energy that makes sense to people,” Mr. Tahan said. “Why not reuse this heat you get for free?”
Ironically, however, when California inspectors were examining the Berkeley home to determine whether it met “green” building codes (it did), he could not get credit for the heat exchanger, a device that is still uncommon in the United States. “When you think about passive-house standards, you start looking at buildings in a different way,” he said.
Buildings that are certified hermetically sealed may sound suffocating. (To meet the standard, a building must pass a “blow test” showing that it loses minimal air under pressure.) In fact, passive houses have plenty of windows — though far more face south than north — and all can be opened.
Inside, a passive home does have a slightly different gestalt from conventional houses, just as an electric car drives differently from its gas-using cousin. There is a kind of spaceship-like uniformity of air and temperature. The air from outside all goes through HEPA filters before entering the rooms. The cement floor of the basement isn’t cold. The walls and the air are basically the same temperature.
Look closer and there are technical differences: When the windows are swung open, you see their layers of glass and gas, as well as the elaborate seals around the edges. A small, grated duct near the ceiling in the living room brings in clean air. In the basement there is no furnace, but instead what looks like a giant Styrofoam cooler, containing the heat exchanger.
Passive houses need no human tinkering, but most architects put in a switch with three settings, which can be turned down for vacations, or up to circulate air for a party (though you can also just open the windows). “We’ve found it’s very important to people that they feel they can influence the system,” Mr. Hasper said.
The houses may be too radical for those who treasure an experience like drinking hot chocolate in a cold kitchen. But not for others. “I grew up in a great old house that was always 10 degrees too cold, so I knew I wanted to make something different,” said Georg W. Zielke, who built his first passive house here, for his family, in 2003 and now designs no other kinds of buildings.
In Germany the added construction costs of passive houses are modest and, because of their growing popularity and an ever larger array of attractive off-the-shelf components, are shrinking.
But the sophisticated windows and heat-exchange ventilation systems needed to make passive houses work properly are not readily available in the United States. So the construction of passive houses in the United States, at least initially, is likely to entail a higher price differential.
Moreover, the kinds of home construction popular in the United States are more difficult to adapt to the standard: residential buildings tend not to have built-in ventilation systems of any kind, and sliding windows are hard to seal.
Dr. Feist’s original passive house — a boxy white building with four apartments — looks like the science project that it was intended to be. But new passive houses come in many shapes and styles. The Passivhaus Institut, which he founded a decade ago, continues to conduct research, teaches architects, and tests homes to make sure they meet standards. It now has affiliates in Britain and the United States.
Still, there are challenges to broader adoption even in Europe.
Because a successful passive house requires the interplay of the building, the sun and the climate, architects need to be careful about site selection. Passive-house heating might not work in a shady valley in Switzerland, or on an urban street with no south-facing wall. Researchers are looking into whether the concept will work in warmer climates — where a heat exchanger could be used in reverse, to keep cool air in and warm air out.
And those who want passive-house mansions may be disappointed. Compact shapes are simpler to seal, while sprawling homes are difficult to insulate and heat.
Most passive houses allow about 500 square feet per person, a comfortable though not expansive living space. Mr. Hasper said people who wanted thousands of square feet per person should look for another design.
“Anyone who feels they need that much space to live,” he said, “well, that’s a different discussion.”

Communities Embracing a Clean Energy Future: Case Studies

2008-05-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

An increasing number of cities throughout the country are turning toward clean, efficient, renewable energy to power their facilities and infrastructure. These renewable energy systems allow cities to become more independent from the grid and imported fossil fuels, boost the market for renewable technologies, increase job availability, move to more reliable and affordable resources, and display a visible public commitment to a sustainable energy future.

A new report published by Strategic Energy Innovations cites examples of existing standards for renewable energy, existing policies and programs that are and/or have been implemented by cities throughout the country, as well as different incentive programs that are being offered by the cities in order to boost the use of renewable energy throughout the community.

Read full report

SJV Clean Energy - Sustainable Communities Blog

Fresnans try to clear path for electric vehicles

Fresnans try to clear path for electric vehicles

Posted at 11:27 PM on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010

THE REPORTER CAN BE REACHED AT ESCHULTZ@FRESNOBEE.COM OR (916) 326-5541

ANDREW TANG: PG&E committed to its energy customers

A FIRST for Fresno

City of Tulare's liquid natural gas fuel station may open to public

Streetlight Retrofit for Orange Cove

LED lights to be added here

By Lorie HamMid Valley Publishing

Hawaii in early stages of energy revolution

By John King, CNN Chief National Correspondent

The Energy Challenge | No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in 'Passive Houses'

Communities Embracing a Clean Energy Future: Case Studies

By Lorie Ham
Mid Valley Publishing