Energy

Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake) may have found a new energy source for California — the pavement beneath your car tires. Last week, Gatto introduced Assembly Bill 306, a proposal to launch tests of “piezoelectric” generation of energy. Essentially, sensors would be placed in roadbeds trembling under the weight of vehicles, harnessing that energy and using it to run nearby streetlights and residences. Gatto said Israel is using the sensors, and Italy plans to test them on part of the nation’s autostrada, or superhighway.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Energy-conservation efforts at Glendale Community College have saved $200,000, putting a dent in its $4.5-million deficit this upcoming school year, officials said. The $200,000 saved means fewer concessions facing employee groups as they brace for what's likely to be another year of givebacks, college Controller Ron Nakasone said. "We're going back to the unions and employee groups to take pay cuts, and we're cutting the budget next year, so this saves us $200,000 of cuts," he said.

Tim Willert DOWNTOWN -- Glendale Water and Power, in response to the rising cost of wholesale energy, has decided to pass the increase along to its customers. GWP announced Thursday that, effective July 2, it raised consumer energy prices by 2 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity and 2 cents per hundred cubic feet of water. For electricity, that will end up costing customers $25.50 every two months for single-family residences, $11 for apartments every two months and $16 per two months for condominiums, GWP spokeswoman Vickie Gardner said Thursday.

Darleene Barrientos A parade of trucks, vans and cars descended on the parking lot across from Verdugo Park Saturday, not for a festival or a party, but to trade in their halogen lamps for more environmentally-friendly fluorescent models. The city-sponsored Free Torchiere Lamp Exchange day invited residents to bring in their halogen lamps to exchange them for one of 1,200 free, 55-watt fluorescent models, as part of the city's effort to help residents be more environmentally friendly and save money at the same time.

Alecia Foster NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Solar energy will be powering more than just part of Glendale Community College's Cimmarusti Science Center. The alternative energy source will be used to power students' minds through a partnership between Glendale Water & Power and the college that will bring state-of-the-art energy and renewable energy programs to the school. College President John Davitt called the program "a milestone in the construction of our science center."

Tim Willert CITY HALL -- Residents who are low energy users could save as much as $2 on their bimonthly bills under a rate restructuring proposal being considered by the Glendale Water and Power Commission. Conversely, commercial customers who use as much as 25,000 kilowatt hours of energy per month may see their bills go up as high as $2,000 under the proposal, which was discussed Wednesday during a study session attended by commissioners and GWP officials.

GLENDALE — The school board Tuesday night approved energy conservation guidelines for the district in a quest to save money and make schools more environmentally friendly. The guidelines will result in a review of energy and water usage for educational programs, food services, landscaping, transportation, maintenance, new construction and administrative operations. Specific changes that will be requested include a reduction of power during high-peak hours, cutting equipment and lighting usage when a building is closed, and shutting down a classroom or facility when it is not being used.

Josh Kleinbaum While insisting that it did nothing wrong during the California energy crunch of 2000 and 2001, the city of Glendale has agreed to pay the Federal Energy Regulation Commission $25,000 -- the amount that FERC claims the city owes the federal government -- to settle accusations of manipulating the energy market. If a judge and the commission approve the deal and the commission itself, Glendale will pay $14,000 for allegations that the city manipulated prices during the energy crisis, and $11,000 for doing so in partnership with Enron and Coral Power LLC. "Glendale denies, as we have throughout this proceeding, that the allegations made against Glendale relating to gaming and partnership have any merit," Senior Assistant City Atty.

The Glendale News-Press visited La Crescenta Elementary School and asked students: ?What did you learn about the different types of energy?? ? ? ? ? ?I learned how light travels in a straight line, and we learned how we use energy with light and heat.? Catrina Voors, 8 Montrose ? ? ? ? ? ?I learned how light and sound can travel easily.? Mitchell Bayles, 9 La Crescenta ? ? ? ?

Third-graders at La Crescenta Elementary School giggled as their wind-up grasshoppers wobbled around on their desks during a lesson on different sources of energy. Punam Bhakta, an educator from Kidspace Museum in Pasadena, visited students to speak to them about energy sources that are found in everyday items, such as flashlights, batteries and toys. “A lot of things we use in everyday life need a source of energy,” Bhakta said. Students took part in hands-on activities to better understand the lesson being presented.

Historic downtown buildings that house homeless families from Pasadena and Glendale are now showing the planet some love. On Thursday, Union Station Homeless Services unveiled the eco-friendly renovation of Euclid Villa, funded by a $1.18 million Los Angeles County Community Development Commission grant. Among other improvements, the 14-unit complex near the Pasadena Convention Center received solar panels, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, new flooring, a garden makeover with drought-tolerant plants and a padded-cork surface for its playground.

Call it a match made in Glendale. Ice Energy has moved into a new 25,000-square-foot facility in Glendale, a city whose utility has become one of the Colorado-based company's largest clients for systems that store energy for air conditioners overnight, when electricity is in less demand and cheaper. The facility, located in Glendale's industrial San Fernando Road corridor, is also centrally located to the firm's other top clients. “Glendale is kind of like the center of the map for us here in California,” said Mike Hopkins, executive vice president of Ice Energy.

A Facebook application that allows smart meter customers to gauge how much energy they're using compared to others went live Tuesday, Glendale officials announced. Glendale Water & Power customers can connect their utility accounts to the “Opower” app via Facebook to monitor how they stack up to others in terms of energy consumption. Officials have described the app as sort of a “Farmville” type social networking experience. The app plays into what city officials have said is a key element of the smart meters - the ability of customers to track their consumption in near real-time to better control costs.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Whether his team is coming off a win or a loss, Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball Coach Sean Beattie knows what to expect from his young squad - a high energy, upbeat group of players. The Rebels dropped their first Prep League match of the season just three days prior against Pasadena Poly, but were back on their home court Friday afternoon to take on Rio Hondo Prep in another league showdown. With their high-energy mantra not missing a beat, the Rebels won, 25-17, 25-23, 18-25, 25-19 and improved to 10-8 overall and 2-1 in league.

China's Solar Valley - a green tech version of California's Silicon Valley - wants to cozy up to Glendale. Government officials there are interested in sending staffers to work at Glendale City Hall for a year to see how planning is done here, Mayor Laura Friedman said this week as she described her visit to China during a City Council meeting. A businessman who developed much of the clean-tech metropolis is also eyeing Glendale for a possible 8.5-acre manufacturing site, she said.

Glendale is well on its way to meeting state mandates that require cities to get 33% of their energy supplies from renewable resources such as wind, solar or landfill gas by 2020. The state law, which takes effect Saturday, sets intermediary targets - the first of which Glendale Water & Power has already beat. Officials say the utility currently has a renewable energy portfolio of 21%, above the first intermediary target of 20% by Dec. 31, 2013. The second target is 25% from renewable energy sources by Dec. 31, 2016.

LA CRESCENTA - A St. Francis High boys' basketball team comeback against Hart came up just short in a Falcon Classic pool-play game Thursday. The Golden Knights had cut what was once a 12-point Hart lead down to one early in the fourth quarter before St. Francis turnovers flipped things around for the Indians and allowed them to hold on for an 80-67 victory at Crescenta Valley High. The Golden Knights simply got too tired, St. Francis co-Coach Ray O'Brien said. "A lot of times when you expend that much energy to get yourself back into the ball game and you're getting tired as it is - they had a deeper bench then we had - you make a couple plays and if they go the other way they break your back," O'Brien said.

Forced by the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Glendale's City Council approved a sweeping plan this week to reduce the city's carbon footprint. The plan sets ambitious goals in citywide recycling efforts. It also calls for increased efficiency at city facilities to cut down on local emissions of greenhouse gases. The 115-page Greener Glendale Plan focuses on municipal operations, which account for about 3% of Glendale's total greenhouse gas emissions. But a second plan aimed at the community as a whole is in the pipeline.

Glendale Water & Power will be one of the first utility companies to join a pilot program featuring a first-of-its-kind Facebook application that will allow roughly 4 million energy users from California to Chicago to create competitions and share insight about their energy consumption on the social networking site. The idea is that by tapping the same social gusto that users apply to other Facebook tools, the utilities will get their customers fully connected to the potential of energy conservation.

It's a tale of two cities in two very different positions as the utilities in Burbank and Glendale work to meet strict state mandates for using renewable energy. At 21%, Glendale Water & Power is ahead of schedule in hitting the first benchmark - that public utilities must get 20% of their power from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and geothermal, by Dec. 31, 2013. Steve Lins, assistant general manager of supplies, told the Glendale City Council on Tuesday that the utility was “well on track.” “We're way ahead of the game,” he said.