October 18, 2012  --  (San Diego’s East County)--East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

STATE

• Foreclosures drop dramatically statewide (Sacramento Bee)
• Cal-Pers approves 85% rate hike for long-term care (Sacramento Bee)

LOCAL

• State denies SDG&E bailout (10 News)
• Judge delays SDG&E trial amid noose talk (UT San Diego)
• San Diego Supervisors vote to charge poor for their Sixth Amendment rights (Citybeat)
• Lawsuit says police shouldn’t decide who is a reporter (UT San Diego)
• Unplugging wind subsidies: Looming end of wind (UT San Diego)
• Bilbray, Peters spar in first debate (UT San Diego)
• The race for La Mesa (La Mesa Today)
• State Treasurer: Fire Poway bond staff (Voice of San Diego)
• CPUC launches  probe of San Onofre, its costs (UT San Diego)
• Charter school in La Mesa ranked eighth in state in API scores
• Real DeMaio doesn’t live up to ‘taxpayer watchdog’ name (Voice of San Diego)
• SDGLN won’t accept pro-Filner ads (CityBeat)
• Trailer Parks in La Mesa? One Council Candidate Welcomes the Idea 

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

October 5, 2012 (San Diego) – The California Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing on SDG&E profits on October 5 at 7 p.m. in the Al Bahr Shriners Hall, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road.

The utility has repeatedly sought rate hikes. But SDG&E already has among the highest profit rates in the United States at 11.1%. Further, a recent study by The Utility Reform Network (TURN) indicates a 9.4% profit would be a fairer rate that would enable energy bills to be reduced by $50 a year for the average family. The public is invited to testify at the hearing.

September 20, 2012  --  (San Diego’s East County)--East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL/REGIONAL

• County invokes state suspension of meeting laws (UT San Diego)
• SDG&E to pay federal government $643 million for fire damage (North County Times)
• Cal-Trans wins fatal crash suit, asks family to pay (UT San Diego)
• 2 former Navy Seals from San Diego killed in embassy attack (10 News)
• Scientists weigh effects of climate change: Scripps conference seeks solution to sea level rise (North County Times)
• Sycamore landfill approved after years of litigation (Santee Patch)
• Lawsuit aims to reveal misuse of baseball funds at Grossmont High (La Mesa Patch)

STATE

• Cal State system to hike tuition 5% if Prop 30 fails (Los Angeles Times)
• Jerry Brown and Molly Munger both want to raise taxes to help schools, but differ on approach (Sacramento Bee)
• Brown signs overhaul of California’s worker compensation (Sacramento Bee)
• 700 bills on Brown’s desk (Sacramento Bee)
• State restricts military funeral protests (UT San Diego)
• California Legislature approves public pension changes (Sacramento Bee)
• The Salton Sea: Death and Politics in the Great American Water War (Wired)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.

September 5, 2012 (San Diego) – Smart City San Diego and the San Diego Zoo today announced they will install a solar photovoltaic canopy that will charge electric vehicles (EV) in the Zoo parking lot. Smart City San Diego is a collaboration that combines the resources of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), City of San Diego, GE, UC San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego to drive projects forward that improve the region’s energy independence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assert San Diego as a clean energy leader.

By Miriam Raftery

By Mark Gabrish Conlan

DRA Says SDG&E’s cost of capital request is out of line with today’s market and unfair to customers

August 7, 2012 (San Francisco) – The Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA), the independent consumer advocate within the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), on Monday presented evidence in the CPUC’s proceeding on Cost of Capital. DRA found that San Diego Gas & Electric Company’s (SDG&E) request for an 11.0% Return on Equity far exceeds both the company’s revenue needs and market standards.

DRA recommends that the appropriate Return on Equity (“ROE,” or the revenue that shareholders can expect to earn on their investment) should be 8.5%, which would result in a $50 million annual savings to SDG&E’s customers. [See Cost of Capital Comparison Chart]

By Miriam Raftery, Editor

 Governor Brown to be present at event

July 25, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)—Opponents of Sunrise Powerlink and massive industrial energy projects proposed to tie into the line are encouraging the public to join a protest on Thursday, July 26 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. 

July 23, 2012 (La Mesa) – SDG&E announces a power outage is scheduled for Saturday, July 28 at 3:00 am lasting up to four hours and a second power outage on Saturday, August 4 at 2:30 am lasting up to five hours  in La Mesa. The outage will affect the following streets:  

Canines identify dozens of sites in path of wind and power line projects

Wind developers “cooperate” with tribes on searches-- but SDG&E refuses to allow dogs on its ECO-Substation site

Story by Miriam Raftery

Photos by Tom and Nadin Abbott, Miriam Raftery, and Jim Pelley

July 18, 2012 (McCain Valley) – Weaving across cactus-studded terrain in McCain Valley, Piper, a border collie trained to find ancient human remains, pauses to sniff the ground.  Ears erect, he sits, alerting handler Lynne Engelbert, who records the GPS coordinates. (Click video to view.) Minutes later, Piper’s find is independently confirmed by a second search dog.

By Catherine Gorka, Lakeside

July 10, 2012 (Lakeside)--Many residents of the East County /back county have received a letter from the Sunrise Powerlink Fire Mitigation Grants Program telling us about the  grant program. 

117-mile, 500,000-volt transmission line improves electricity reliability, but increases concerns over fire safety for region

 June 21, 2012 (San Diego) – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)  announced June 18 that it had completed and put into service Sunrise Powerlink, a 500,000-volt transmission line linking San Diego to Imperial Valley.  

“Putting the Sunrise Powerlink into service is the final milestone in a complex and challenging energy project that ranks among the largest and most significant in the history of San Diego Gas & Electric,” said Jessie J. Knight, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of SDG&E.