Californians

At a one-day meeting of California’s state legislature Monday a new bill was introduced calling for public disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in oil/natural gas drilling by the same state lawmaker who has unsuccessfully sponsored similar bills the past two years.

If early reports are confirmed, the irony will not be lost on energy-starved Californians. Last week, Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. (TVOG) reported it might have found the West’s largest natural gas field ever near Delano, CA, estimating it holds 3 Tcf in reserves. TVOG said its Sunrise Natural Gas Project might be one of the largest onshore finds in more than half a century.

If early reports are confirmed, the irony will not be lost on energy-starved Californians. Yesterday, Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. (TVOG) reported it might have found the West’s largest natural gas field ever near Delano, CA, estimating it holds 3 Tcf in reserves. TVOG said its Sunrise Natural Gas Project might be one of the largest onshore finds in more than half a century.

With the official start of spring, time began to press California’s wide-ranging efforts to fix past, present and future (short and long-term) energy problems. For every positive last week, there seemed to be greater negative developments to deal with, rolling blackouts being the most dramatic. By last Friday, the prospect for bigger problems ahead seemed unavoidable.

Californians looking for reason to celebrate over theThanksgiving holiday may have found it in a new report from theCalifornia Energy Commission, which claims that the state shouldhave enough power to meet its electricity demand next summer,barring extraordinarily hot weather.

Californians looking for something to give thanks for this weekmight want to read a new report from the California EnergyCommission, which claims that the state should have enough power tomeet its electricity demand next summer, barring extraordinarilyhot weather. The CEC’s findings relied in part on the addition ofnew generation that is expected to be available next year, most ofwhich is being built by Calpine Corp.

California seems as unprepared as ever this week to meet itsenergy needs in the face of a blast of cold weather. The pricestell much of the story. While power prices continued to make gainsyesterday, reaching near $240/MWh during peak hours according tothe California Power Exchange, spot gas prices held ground atrecord levels above $8/MMBtu. Meanwhile, gas and electric utilitiesthroughout the state and the state’s electric grid operator issueda variety of emergency alerts.

As cooler-than-normal temperatures statewide reduced peak-powerdemand to winter levels, California last week was awash in proposedsolutions to its electricity price and supply problems, which arelikely to be much more severe next summer.

California lawmakers and regulators — testifying in a publicsession two months before the general election — heaped the blamefor the state’s skyrocketing power prices on the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission.