Tag Archives: san diego

Considering Wind Power? Is a Home Wind Turbine Right for You?

Posted on May 18, 2013 | 1 comment

So maybe you’re thinking you want to generate your own electricity, and home wind power has crossed your mind. After all, who really enjoys paying a utility bill? Small wind energy is renewable, non-polluting, and, in the right circumstances, can save you money.

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But is home wind power a good choice for you? The answer may surprise you, because living in a windy area is not necessarily the most important factor. In fact, many properties are not a good fit for installing a wind turbine even if they have a lot of wind (for reasons we’ll get into). On the other hand, if you want to go off-grid and produce your own electricity, you almost certainly want to consider installing a home wind turbine, even if your location is not notably windy.

Off-Grid Residential Wind Power

Here’s the deal: For a home wind turbine to be worth your investment, you really need to live on an acre or more. That’s the guideline from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Guide to Small Wind Electric Systems, a free publication for homeowners. Living in a rural area helps, because if you’re in a residential neighborhood, you’re likely to run into conflicts with zoning and local homeowners associations. Additionally, you’re more likely to find a high average wind speed in wide open spaces far from windbreaks such as buildings and trees. Altogether, while installing a small wind turbine in a city or suburb is certainly possible, you’re much more likely to have the right conditions for home wind power if you live well outside city limits.

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Posted in energy savings

Tagged appraisal, home electricity, off the grid, san diego, wind turbine

San Diego – Free Housing And Credit Counseling to be Offered Across the County

Posted on May 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

San Diego County residents by summertime will be able to access housing and credit counseling for free without having to visit several offices for help, thanks to technology.

The Housing Opportunities Collaborative, a local nonprofit group, has received nearly $300,000 in grants to set up computer terminals throughout the county that will connect homeowners and renters to housing professionals for virtual one-on-one meetings, said Appaswamy “Vino” Pajanor, the group’s president and executive director.

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The idea is to save everyone, especially low-income and underserved households, time and money.

Residents can expect to get help on foreclosure prevention, landlord-tenant issues, bankruptcies, buying a home for the first time and tax preparation. The San Diego terminals will be part of an 18-computer network that will also reach Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties.

“We want to ensure that folks are not sent from one physical location to another to get access to resources and counselors,” Pajanor said. “We also wanted savings for the community, saving time for clients and reducing the carbon footprint.”

One of the virtual counseling sites is live at the Jacobs Center For Neighborhood Innovation, 404 Euclid Ave. in San Diego. Seven other local sites, from Vista to Chula Vista, are expected to go online within about the next month, Pajanor said. Space will likely be provided by the county library system.

San Diego – Proposed Electrical Hike; What Does It Hold?

Posted on April 30, 2013 | Leave a comment

State utility regulators are weighing a proposal to increase electricity and gas rates by at least $723 million over a four-year period for customers in San Diego and southern Orange counties.

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More than a year past due, the contested case before the California Public Utilities Commission could come to a vote as soon as early next month and will apply retroactively to rates starting Jan. 1, 2012, and extending through 2015.

Closely watched by utility investors and consumer advocates, the deliberations will determine how much can be spent on the region’s complex web of electrical wires and gas pipelines, along with the training, salaries, incentives and retirement of people operating them.

“We’ve been able, in past years, to find some kind of middle ground,” said Bob Finkelstein, general counsel for The Utility Reform Action Network in San Francisco, among more than a dozen advocacy groups contesting SDG&E’s requests. “This time … the gap was too large. It was a bridge too far to get to figuring out a settlement.”

The result is an itemized, 1,300-page proposed decision by an administrative law judge in the case, John Wong, that could still undergo changes as it comes to a vote before the five-member, governor-appointed utilities commission. Rate increases for SDG&E affiliate Southern California Gas also are addressed.

The proposed decision would bump up SDG&E revenues retroactively by $140.2 million to $1.75 billion, effective Jan. 1, 2012.

That’s a one-year, 8.7 percent increase (though it will be applied to bills gradually over more than two years to prevent hardship). The impact on individual utility bills would be less significant because state-authorized rate increases do not affect commodity, transmission and some other charges.

Stephanie Donovan, a spokeswoman for SDG&E, said costs are being driven up by safety and reliability needs, new electric grid technologies, expanded environmental regulatory requirements and higher insurance costs for wildfire liability and employee health care.

Competing efforts

The judge’s recommendation would reject $99.4 million of SDG&E’s request. That prompted a formal warning letter last week to investors in SDG&E’s San Diego-based parent company, Sempra Energy.

Wong summarized in writing competing efforts to sway the commission.

“Parties who oppose the proposed increases contend that due to current economic conditions, ratepayers cannot afford any increase in their electric and gas rates,” he said. “The applicants contend that despite the state of the economy, their costs have been increasing due to additional federal, state, and local regulations, as well as increases in the cost of materials and new technology, and the growth of their respective utility systems to meet growing demand.”

Among the slashed requests: $29.8 million for energy storage projects, designed to even out the availability of solar-generated electricity and other renewable power.