Energy and Technology

After an extensive and thorough investigation, CAL FIRE has determined the Tubbs Fire, which occurred during the October 2017 Fire Siege, was caused by a private electrical system adjacent to a residential structure.

PG&E May Proactively Turn Off Power for Safety in Portions of 12 Counties. Sonoma County officials are prepared to notify residents who will likely be impacted by PG&E’s planned power shut-off this evening, due to extreme weather conditions: unincorporated areas of northeastern and eastern Sonoma County. Sonoma County Emergency Services officials will send out aSoCoAlert to notify residents in advance of potential impacts and to alert them to possible critical communications outages.

September was a big month for the planet. On September 8th, “Rise for Climate, Justice, and Jobs,” drew over 30,000 people to the streets of San Francisco, joining thousands of others at 900 events in 90 countries. All this was designed to say it is time for a Fossil Free World with Renewable Energy for All, a message for leaders from all over the world, who gathered September 12-14 at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, to celebrate the climate action achievements of states, regions, cities, companies, investors, and citizens.

Sonoma County DRAFT Fire Recovery and Resiliency Plan - PUBLIC COMMENT DEADLINE: October 26, 2018. As we continue to recover and rebuild a year after the North Bay fires of October 2017, the DRAFT Recovery and Resiliency Framework just released by the Sonoma County Office of Recovery and Resiliency offers a pathway for starting to look forward.

North Bay residents participated in both sides of a debate at the Global Climate Action Summit over how to best fight climate change and whether local governments have done enough.

Under the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvement Assistance, the USDA provides grants, of up to 25% of projects costs, to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase and install energy efficiency improvements. To learn more about the program, sign-up for the upcoming workshop and resource fair on November 6^th in Santa Rosa. 

PG&E installed its 100th weather station in Sonoma County to capture additional meteorological data to predict where extreme wildfire danger could occur.

After a month of discussion, a legislative committee tasked with writing regulations governing wildfire preparedness and responses released draft legislation on Tuesday night, just three days before the end of the legislative session.

The Wildfire Preparedness and Response Legislative Conference Committee, a ten-member group of Senators and Assemblymembers tasked with writing a bi-partisan bill to improve California’s rules for wildfire response, mitigation and prevention.

As droughts and wildfires become the norm in Northern California, rainwater catchment systems could play a role in making our communities more sustainable and resilient.

PG&E is staffing up tonight for tomorrow’s storm.  PG&E’s Sonoma Division Emergency Operations Center in Santa Rosa is expected to activate in the early morning hours in order to prepare and respond to storm-related outages in Sonoma County.

As part of my annual New Year tradition, I am highlighting some of the new California state laws (most of which are in effect as of January 1, 2019 unless expressed otherwise in the law). Keep in mind that during the 2018 Legislative Session, over one thousand Assembly Bills (AB) and Senate Bills (SB) collectively passed. Governor Jerry Brown signed 1,016 of the 1,217 that landed on his desk (he vetoed the rest).  New laws limiting plastic straws, increasing renewable sources for electricity, Gun control, protecting Net Neutrality and others.

I don’t think that many of us in Sonoma Countyy question the reality of climate change. Its disastrous effects were made too painfully evident by the unprecedented size, speed, and destructiveness of our recent wildfires. Although the current administration refuses to acknowledge and confront the issue, we understand that we are in a race against time to develop renewable energy sources and drastically reduce our consumption of fossil fuels. Many of us, as individuals, work conscientiously to reduce our emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). But each municipality has a much bigger carbon footprint than any individual resident or family. Since being elected to the Healdsburg City Council, I’ve made reducing our city’s GHG emissions a high priority. Happily, the Council has stepped up to the plate and taken many measures to reduce GHG.

I’ve been preaching for some time, that if we don’t deal with climate change, do it right, and do it now—nothing else is really going to matter. When I went to the Climate March in 2014 in NYC, I  heard we had 20–40 years to make a difference; recent reports say the window is only 10–12 years. Now is the time.

Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) and Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02) announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded more than $2.9 million to the Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) for relocation of a portion of the water supply pipeline outside a hazard zone, providing for increased resiliency to future disasters.  

California's utility regulatory body will hold one of two upcoming workshops on the practice of shutting off power at high wildfire risk times in Santa Rosa on Friday, December 14.

Santa Rosa will be one of nine California cities to receive investments in electric vehicle charging stations as part of a car company's settlement with environmental regulators.