Author: Wayne Lusvardi
Wayne Lusvardi formerly worked for California’s largest urban water agency and lives in Rancho Mirage.
Court Opens Up Big Prop.13 Loophole for ‘Public Franchise Fees’
Two recent court cases have created a contested loophole in property-tax related Propositions 13, 26 and 218 which would cause a legal and actual tax earthquake in California. Cities have already started to impose legally unhinged toll booth-like charges, called...
New Cal Grid CEO is Ex-Enron Green Power Trader
Elliot Mainzer, will be the new CEO of the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO), as of October 1, replacing Steven Berberich who is retiring. Mainzer does not hide from his resume that he once “established” the “Renewable Power Desk” for...
Mississippi Sierra Club: Green Power Did Not Cause California Blackouts
Expansion of solar power in nearby states, not California, resulted in a lack of available exportable power and rolling blackouts. Louis Miller, head of the Mississippi Sierra Club, concludes in “Let’s Not Black Out the Facts About California Blackouts, What...
Energy Fragmentation Resulting in Blackouts Says PG&E
California’s fragmented energy system has resulted in not enough local or imported power to rescue California from blackouts, not due to deregulation or privatization, energy trading, technical breakdown or error, or natural events, just as in 2001. On November 7,...
Bruce Babbitt’s California Grand Water Bargain is a Selfie to Seek Federal Appointment
Bruce Babbitt, former Secretary of the Interior under Pres. Bill Clinton, is calling for a “Grand Water Bargain” for California as he did in 1994 when he was formerly Secretary of the Interior under Pres. Bill Clinton. Babbitt was the...
How Long Can ‘Dirty Coal’ and Gas Bail Out L.A. From Heat Waves?
During the current triple digit heat wave hitting California, the state electric grid’s Independent System Operator (ISO) stated it was conservation efforts that avoided more extensive rolling blackouts. But, data from the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) indicates that what...