October 15, 2009
SBACC Supports Advanced Metering Infrastructure
The
South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce
(SBACC) supports The Gas Company’s Advanced Metering
Infrastructure (AMI), system and urges the CPUC to
approve the proposal.
AMI allows The Gas Company to automate meter reading
which would also allow a reduction of costs to both
the customer and the Company. AMI offers the
additional benefits of improving customer privacy,
security and convenience; enhancing meter
reading/billing accuracy; and, improving air quality
by removing Company vehicles from the road. It also
will bring tens of millions of dollars of work to
Southern California.
SBACC believes that the AMI system is an important
piece of technology. The system will allow usage
information online to customers, so they can better
understand how they are using energy and can make
behavior changes to save energy and money. This can
become a milestone decision that will pave the way
for a more efficient, sustainable and consumer
friendly energy market throughout our region.
October 31, 2008
SBACC Continues to Support Sunrise Powerlink Project
SBACC believes in the Sunrise Powerlink which
aims to strengthen California’s energy grid. The
Sunrise Powerlink will help ensure reliable electric
service.
The Sunrise Powerlink will have enough capacity to
power more than 650,000 homes and businesses in San
Diego County and southern Orange County (San Diego
Gas & Electric’s service territory). As a vital new
link to the state’s power grid, the Sunrise
Powerlink will help ensure Southern California homes
and businesses have the energy they need when they
need it most.
California’s 36 million residents receive their
power via a network of interconnected transmission
lines that work together to provide reliable
electric service to homes and businesses throughout
California. A disruption or breakdown of major
transmission lines can compromise the entire system
and put consumers across the state at risk for
blackouts and energy shortages.
SBACC Chair Helen Duncan wrote the following letter
to the California
Public Utilities Commission urging their support of the
Sunrise
Powerlink:
October 31, 2008
President Michael R. Peevey
Commissioner Dian Grueneich
Commissioner John Bohn
Commissioner Rachelle Chong
Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon
California Public Utilities Commission
505
Van Ness Avenue
San
Francisco, CA 94102
Via
Fax: (415) 703-1758
Dear
Commissioners:
The
South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce formally
requests that you approve the Sunrise Powerlink. Not
only is this transmission project vital to the continued
prosperity of the state of California, it is necessary
to reduce our carbon footprint and stop global warming.
With greenhouse gas emissions on the rise, we cannot
afford to depend on older technologies that negatively
impact the environment.
We
must increase our reliance on renewables by improving
access to large-scale solar, wind and geothermal
projects. That requires building new transmission
infrastructure. The Federal Department of Energy has
said that the Southwest region needs upgraded and
expanded transmission lines like the Sunrise Powerlink.
And even the CPUC’s own report on the status of
California’s progress on renewables says the lack of
power lines puts many green energy projects at risk.
One
of the state’s primary tools for meeting its energy
goals is the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which
requires all investor-owned utilities to generate at
least 20 percent of their total electricity from
renewable energy sources by 2010. According to the
California Energy Commission, tapping renewable
resources in California’s Imperial Valley would help the
state meet its energy goals. Industry experts, however,
cite California’s lack of adequate transmission as an
impediment to unlocking the renewable generation
potential for solar, geothermal and wind energy in this
region.
The Sunrise Powerlink would therefore expand access to
new supplies of clean solar, wind and geothermal energy
in the Imperial Valley that are waiting to be tapped and
help California move towards a greener energy future.
The Sunrise Powerlink will benefit all Californians by
helping our state meet its environmental goals of
reducing greenhouse gases and increasing the use of
renewable energy.
We
strongly believe that the Sunrise Powerlink is the most
environmentally sensible option for the state of
California, and we urge you to approve it.
Sincerely,
Helen
Duncan
2008
Chair
September 10, 2007
SBACC Supports Californians for Clean and Reliable
Energy and Joins Coalition
SBACC believes in the Sunrise Powerlink which
aims to strengthen California’s energy grid. The
Sunrise Powerlink will help ensure reliable electric
service.
Log on to:
www.cleanreliableenergy.org for more
information.
Log on to join the coalition:
www.cleanreliableenergy.org/act
The Sunrise Powerlink will have enough capacity to
power more than 650,000 homes and businesses in San
Diego County and southern Orange County (San Diego
Gas & Electric’s service territory). As a vital new
link to the state’s power grid, the Sunrise
Powerlink will help ensure Southern California homes
and businesses have the energy they need when they
need it most.
California’s 36 million residents receive their
power via a network of interconnected transmission
lines that work together to provide reliable
electric service to homes and businesses throughout
California. A disruption or breakdown of major
transmission lines can compromise the entire system
and put consumers across the state at risk for
blackouts and energy shortages.
The landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(Assembly Bill 32) positioned California as a world
leader in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. One of the state’s primary tools for
meeting its energy goals is the Renewable Portfolio
Standard, which requires all investor-owned
utilities to generate at least 20 percent of their
total electricity from renewable energy sources by
2010.
According to the California Energy Commission,
tapping renewable resources in California’s Imperial
Valley would help the state meet its energy goals.
Industry experts, however, cite California’s lack of
adequate transmission as an impediment to unlocking
the renewable generation potential for solar,
geothermal and wind energy in this region.
California’s transmission shortage affects our
ability to access clean energy from regions such as
the desert southwest where solar resources are
abundant. The Sunrise Powerlink would expand access
to new supplies of clean solar, wind and geothermal
energy in the Imperial Valley that are waiting to be
tapped and help California move towards a greener
energy future.
This new transmission line will have the capacity to
deliver 1,000 megawatts of renewable power to homes
and businesses throughout the San Diego region and
southern Orange County (San Diego Gas & Electric’s
service territory). This clean power would eliminate
tons of greenhouse gases that would be emitted if
this same amount of energy was generated by
conventional power plants.
The Sunrise Powerlink will benefit all Californians
by helping our state meet its environmental goals of
reducing greenhouse gases and increasing the use of
renewable energy and the South Bay Association of
Chambers of Commerce is proud to be part of this
coalition.
October 3, 2005
SBACC
Supports
Affordable Energy Options for California and the Region
SBACC
Position
The SBACC
supports the new
statewide coalition Cal-CASE: Californians for Clean,
Affordable, Safe Energy and the development of
affordable energy options including the necessary
infrastructure to bring LNG into California to meet the
state's natural gas supplies.
Background
Natural gas prices have more than doubled since 2001
because only 15% of our needs are produced in California
and U.S. supplies are not increasing fast enough. At
the same time, demand for natural gas is increasing
primarily because all of the state’s new electricity
plants will be powered by natural gas. That’s why
California is at an energy crossroads. To avoid
dramatically higher natural gas and electricity prices
in the future, we need to increase natural gas
supplies. That’s how LNG can help.
What is LNG?
- LNG
stands for liquefied natural gas. It is odorless,
non-toxic and non-corrosive. Essentially, it is the
same natural gas more than 60 million Americans use to
heat and cool their homes, only in a liquid state.
-
Natural gas is converted into liquid form through a
process called liquefaction, which significantly reduces
the volume of the gas, making it more economical to
transport, and therefore, cheaper for consumers. LNG is
converted back to gas by passing the liquid through
vaporizers that warm it. Both processes are performed
using advanced technologies with a proven safety record.
-
LNG
has been in wide use throughout the world for some 45
years. Chia and Japan import nearly all of their
natural gas. Vast natural gas fields and liquefaction
facilities are under construction around the globe, and
dozens of LNG facilities are in various stages of
development around the United States.
Why
We Need LNG.
-
California’s demand in the natural gas market is
expected to grow significantly within the next 10
years. To help meet the growing demand, LNG can play a
larger role in the state’s energy supply mix and may
assist with reducing the potential for price volatility.
-
California faces a growing gap between the natural gas
it uses, and the natural gas that can be produced
domestically or imported economically from the Western
United States and Canada. California generates only 15%
of the total annual amount of natural gas it consumes,
and U.S. supplies are not increasing. LNG is the only
viable option for increasing the supply of safe, clean
natural gas in our state.
How
LNG Will Help Our Economy
-
Affordability & Reliability: LNG is essential to
keeping electricity prices low and ensuring a reliable
supply of power to California homes and businesses.
This is especially true here in California where more
than 40 percent of our electricity generating capacity
is fueled by natural gas.
-
Reduce
Cost: According to a study by the National Petroleum
Council, American families and businesses will overpay
more than $1 trillion for energy costs unless aggressive
action is taken to expand the use of natural gas in the
economy.
-
Help
Stabilize Prices: U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan recently said LNG imports could help stabilize
natural gas supplies, reducing the risks of price spikes