A few energy-related news stories we’ve been reading this week …

California

A Small Reduction in Bills Coming for About 30% of SDG&E Customers

About 30 percent of San Diego Gas & Electric residential customers will receive a slight break on their electric bills after the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday OK’d a proposal the utility lobbied for that eliminates the difference between winter and summer rates for customers on tiered pricing plans. (San Diego Union-Tribune, April 16)

More than 100,000 Clean Energy Workers Lost Their Jobs in March

A report out Wednesday from Environmental Entrepreneurs, a clean energy advocacy group, finds that more than 106,000 clean energy workers filed for unemployment in March — a number that has almost certainly grown over the last few weeks. (Los Angeles Times, April 15)

Judge OKs PG&E Plan to Pay $19M in Fees from Victims Fund

The Northern California victims of catastrophic wildfires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric’s decaying electrical grid will have at least $19 million siphoned away from a $13.5 billion fund for their losses to cover administrative costs. (Associated Press, April 15)

Judge Rejects PG&E Bid to Pay $4M Criminal Fine From Fire Victims’ Fund

A judge overseeing PG&E’s bankruptcy is rejecting the utility’s efforts to use a trust set up for Northern California fire victims to pay off its criminal fines. The controversial approach was slated to be taken up at a bankruptcy hearing on Tuesday, but U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali announced his opinion in a tentative order issued Saturday. (KQED, April 14)

Amid ‘Stay-at-Home’ Orders, What Kind of Financial Break can SDG&E Customers Get?

The California Public Utilities Commission, the agency that regulates the state’s major investor-owned power companies such as San Diego Gas & Electric, has agreed to shift the timing of a credit SDG&E customers receive each year to help give some financial relief in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. (San Diego Union-Tribune, April 13)

San Onofre Sewage Spill Linked to Blocked Line, Worn Out Pump Switch

Southern California Edison, the operators of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, is still investigating what caused the release of 7,000 gallons of sewage into the ocean last month but it appears the culprits were a blockage in the facility’s sewage treatment plant and a worn out pump switch. (San Diego Union-Tribune, April 13)

Should We Spend Billions on Clean Energy? It Worked During the Last Crisis

A decade later, as the country enters a pandemic-driven economic downturn that could rival or exceed the Great Recession, the Recovery Act provides a template for how lawmakers might drive further growth in clean energy — particularly nascent industries such as energy storage or electric vehicles. (Los Angeles Times, April 10)

Nation/World

Trump’s Oil-Production Pact May do Little to Help U.S. Producers or Drivers Amid Coronavirus

The agreement announced Sunday by Russia, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries to cut back output is unlikely to raise fuel prices much for American consumers in the weeks and months ahead. (Los Angeles Times, April 14)