Berkeley pushes PG&E to bury power lines
Berkeley, Calif., city officials are pressing Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to include their city in a plan to underground 10,000 miles of power lines in regions with the highest fire danger, The Berkeley Scanner reported.
In April, Berkeley officials sent a letter to PG&E, reiterating a request first formalized in a January vote by the Berkeley City Council. The proposal focuses on Berkeley's "Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone," which includes Panoramic Hill and the northeast Berkeley Hills, areas where undergrounding power lines could significantly reduce wildfire risks and facilitate safer evacuations during emergencies, according to The Berkeley Scanner.
A California Senate bill passed in 2023 has allocated federal funds for projects to underground utility lines, as noted in the city council's resolution. The resolution highlighted that the northeast Berkeley Hills were identified in a 2019 Associated Press analysis as among the most difficult areas in the state for evacuation due to population density.
Officials have pointed out that undergrounding power lines is a highly effective way to reduce wildfire risk. Efforts to bury utility wires in Berkeley have a long history, dating back to at least the 1970s. According to a 2018 city study, about 49% of Berkeley's 26 miles of arterial streets and approximately one-third of its 36 miles of collector streets have already been undergrounded.
Councilmember Susan Wengraf, who has been involved in this issue since 2008, told the Berkeley Scanner that the letter to PG&E was delayed but necessary. She noted that PG&E's initial undergrounding plans primarily target rural areas. However, Berkeley has secured funding for a mile of undergrounding work on Grizzly Peak, a project currently underway.
Wengraf celebrated this achievement, telling the Berkeley Scanner that residents had been waiting 32 years for such progress. She expressed a desire to see power lines buried throughout the entire city, acknowledging the challenge but emphasizing its importance. She mentioned that previous plans for "Rule 20A" projects to underground power lines had been disrupted when the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ended the program last year, with no replacement announced yet.
Michigan invests millions in restoring Flint properties
The state of Michigan said it’s willing to step in and oversee property repairs at 1,900 homes in Flint where water pipes have been inspected or replaced but the grounds remain a mess.
The city in March was found in civil contempt by a judge after blowing past deadlines to get the work done, years after a water switch in Flint in 2014 caused lead to leach off old pipes, spoiling the drinking water system.
Between 10,000 and 11,000 lead or galvanized steel pipes have been replaced out of 30,000 water lines that were excavated and checked, under a lawsuit settlement between Flint and residents, the Natural Resources Defense Council said.
“But there are 1,900 homes where the city has not gone back to fix the property,” NRDC attorney Sarah Tallman said, noting broken driveways and sidewalks and ripped-up lawns.
In a court filing, the state asked U.S. District Judge David Lawson to allow it to step in.
“The state has agreed to assume responsibility for managing the work being conducted by the city’s contractors, including payment of additional funds required to complete that work,” the attorney general’s office said Wednesday.
Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said the city is grateful for the help. The balance of the work will likely cost more than $4.75 million.
Fiber Broadband Association advocates for retiring copper
The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) has published a new white paper, “The Benefits of Retiring Copper Today,” highlighting the advantages of transitioning from copper to fiber broadband networks.
The white paper argues that many telecommunications providers still face unnecessary expenses and complexity by maintaining legacy copper infrastructure, despite having migrated to fiber in core and access networks.
The document outlines the cost benefits and reasons to accelerate the shift to fiber, including improved reliability, substantial environmental benefits, and the scalability to support future high-bandwidth services. Key points include:
Energy Transfer adds 6,000-mile pipeline network WGT Midstream
Energy Transfer LP and WTG Midstream LLC have entered into a definitive agreement where Energy Transfer will acquire WTG Midstream Holdings LLC in a transaction valued at approximately $3.25 billion from affiliates of Stonepeak, the Davis Estate and Diamondback Energy, Inc.
Consideration for the transaction will be comprised of $2.45 billion in cash and approximately 50.8 million newly issued Energy Transfer common units. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.
WTG provides comprehensive midstream services including wellhead gathering, intra-basin transportation and processing services. The company’s 6,000-mile pipeline network serves significant operators in some of the most active areas of the Midland Basin including Martin, Howard, Upton, Reagan and Irion counties.
WTG also operates eight processing plants with a total capacity of approximately 1.3 Bcf/d and is constructing two new plants with an additional capacity of approximately 0.4 Bcf/d. The first new plant is expected to be in service in the third quarter of 2024 and the second plant in the third quarter of 2025.
The acquisition also includes a 20 percent interest in BANGL Pipeline, an approximately 425-mile NGL pipeline with an initial capacity of 125,000 Bbls/d (expandable up over 300,000 Bbls/d) connecting the Permian Basin to markets on the Texas Gulf Coast.
CRW presents $450 million proposal to address sewage runoff crisis
In a bid to tackle the recurrent problem of sewage discharge into the Susquehanna River, Capital Region Water (CRW) has unveiled a comprehensive $450 million plan, WGAL News 8 reported.
The initiative, presented to the Harrisburg, Pa., City Council, outlines a strategic approach spanning two decades to mitigate the impact of combined sewer and stormwater systems on water bodies.
Addressing the council, Charlotte Katzenmoyer, CEO of CRW, emphasized the urgency of the situation, highlighting how heavy precipitation events exacerbate the overflow of untreated sewage into the river and Paxton Creek,
The plan encompasses a series of measures aimed at bolstering the infrastructure's resilience, including repairs, hydraulic upgrades to pumping stations, interceptor pipes, and flow-control mechanisms. Additionally, there's a push for the expansion of green spaces and tree planting to enhance natural water absorption, thereby reducing runoff.
However, the implementation of the plan is expected to necessitate rate increases, albeit with efforts to mitigate the impact on low-income consumers.
LA sewer fees set to surge due to infrastructure overhaul
Los Angeles residents may soon find their sewer bills skyrocketing, with projections indicating a potential doubling of costs over the next four years, KABC reported.
The driving force behind this hike is the urgent need to address the city's aging sewer infrastructure, according to Barbara Romero, Director and General Manager of L.A. Sanitation.
The proposed plan, recently greenlit by the City Council, outlines a significant increase in sewage charges. For the average household, this means a substantial rise from $75 per billing period to $92 starting this October, escalating further to $155 by July 2028.
The implications of these adjustments extend beyond individual households. Apartment complexes could potentially face bills exceeding $1,700.
While the proposal was passed, it faced opposition from four City Council members, including Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez. She expressed concerns about the rushed nature of the decision and criticized the assumption that the council would simply approve it without thorough consideration.
This hike is categorized as a user fee, and property owners will be formally notified. However, there is a provision for objections to be raised following the notification process.
Giant California water tunnel to cost over $20 billion
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration said recently it will now cost more than $20 billion to build a giant tunnel aimed at catching more water when it rains and storing it to better prepare for longer droughts caused by climate change.
State regulators have been trying to build some version of a water tunnel system for decades. The latest form championed by the Democratic governor is a single giant tunnel, down from two tunnels proposed by his predecessor, Jerry Brown. Newsom’s administration says the state can capture more water from the Sacramento River during major storms and send it south for storage.
The last cost estimate, which came in 2020, put the price tag for a single tunnel project at $16 billion. The new analysis says the tunnel will cost $20.1 billion, an increase they attribute almost entirely to inflation, which soared after the pandemic.
The project would be paid for by 29 local public water agencies, who get their money from customers.
The analysis, conducted by the Berkeley Research Group but paid for by the state, said the tunnel would yield $38 billion in benefits, mostly because of an increased water supply that would be better protected from natural disasters like earthquakes.
The analysis notes the environmental impacts include lost agricultural land, reduced water quality in the Delta, and impacts on air quality, transportation and noise.
State officials note the project now includes $200 million for grants to fund local projects in areas impacted by construction.
Beyond environmental concerns, the project has become a political landmine throughout the Central Valley’s farming communities, where it is seen as yet another attempt by Southern California to steal their water.
While most of California’s population lives in the southern part of the state, most of the state’s water comes from the north. In the state Legislature, lawmakers have blocked any effort to benefit or speed up the tunnel’s construction.
The tunnel would be part of the State Water Project — a complex system of reservoirs, dams and canals that provides water to 27 million people while irrigating 750,000 acres (303,515 hectares) of farmland.
The proposed tunnel would be about 45 miles long and 36 feet wide, or large enough to carry more than 161 million gallons of water per hour. State officials say this tunnel would let the state capture more water when the state is hit by “atmospheric rivers” — large storms that can drench the state for weeks during the rainy season. UI