News

At the High Speed Rail Conference on December 2 in Downtown Los Angeles, California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales provided a progress report on the state’s bullet-train project. VerdeXchange News presents an edited transcript of Morales’ remarks, followed by a question-and-answer session. Here, he discusses stages of project implementation and the challenges facing the authority—which mirror difficulties overcome by major California infrastructure achievements of the past. Morales also delves into the potential for economic development that high-speed rail provides, noting the project’s ability to decrease unemployment and support local businesses.

As California seeks to meet greenhouse-gas emissions reduction goals set out by AB32, utilities are grappling with the intermittence of renewable resources like solar and wind. George Minter, Senior Director of Policy and Environment at the Southern California Gas Company, works on SoCalGas’s electrolysis commercialization and expansion program, which aims to address this challenge. In the following interview with VerdeXchange News, Minter discusses power-to-gas—how it works, precedents for its use in the European Union, and its potential as a solution to excess power on the grid. Minter also discusses natural gas’ impact on transportation, the “hydrogen highway,” and efforts to decarbonize the pipeline—lowering the carbon content of California’s natural gas supply.

Appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Long Beach in June, Jon Slangerup joins POLB with 34 years of corporate leadership experience—including expertise in aviation, logistics, and clean technology. In agreeing to head a seaport that moves $180 billion worth of trade annually, Slangerup faces logistical and technological hurdles that the port must overcome. In this interview with VerdeXchange News, he discusses current infrastructure challenges and improvements at the Port of Long Beach, efforts to green operations, and POLB’s relationship with the Port of Los Angeles. He also remarks on POLB’s economic health and awareness of growing global seaport competition.

Appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission by Governor Jerry Brown in 2012 after serving on the California Energy Commission, Carla Peterman is an authority on energy policy in the state—which has long been a pioneering leader in developing sustainable energy practices and policy. She recently sat down with VerdeXchange News to talk about electric vehicle regulation and energy storage, among other topics. Peterman provides an optimistic perspective on both of these areas, taking into account market responses to CPUC regulations and initiatives that have already been adopted.

The founder of ABL Inc. and the VerdeXchange conference is essentially the Kevin Bacon, or the Lois Weisberg, of the green world. Here he discusses LA's growing public transit system and what's impressed him about the sustainability world.

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California Governor Jerry Brown may have declared a drought emergency this Spring, but for many in Southern California water conservation is never ending—in great measure the result of the foresight and investments of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. In the following VXNews interview, Jeff Kightlinger, General Manager of MWD, specifically details the ongoing preparation and response his regional water agency has championed in the face of the driest calendar year in California’s history. Kightlinger additionally addresses recent adjustments to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), planning for a water bond for the November ballot, and meeting the goals of California’s AB32.

Communities and utilities across the nation face the challenges of aging infrastructure, climate change, increased costs, and limited funding. With such challenges come opportunities to be innovative and for our utilities and communities to become more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. Solutions such as green infrastructure and renewable energy projects are addressing these issues while enhancing the quality of life in our communities. Funding them, however, is a major challenge. With creative financing ideas being tried across the nation to help utilities and communities meet these challenges, what are some of the best ideas and examples in the water and energy sectors?

In February the Los Angeles City Council approved Marcie Edwards as the new General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipal utility in the US. Edwards began working at LADWP in 1976 at age 19 as a clerk typist, rising to the position of assistant general manager for the marketing and the customer service business units. She left LADWP in December 2000 to serve as general manager of Anaheim’s municipal water and electric utility. In her new position, Edwards faces the challenge of maintaining relations with the department’s strong labor coalition as well as balancing capital investments in infrastructure with state mandates on sustainability.

With extensive expertise in Arizona energy, transportation, and politics, Martin Shultz now holds the position of Senior Policy Director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. He sat down with VX News to cover a range of topics that will be addressed at VX Arizona 2014—charting the progress of solar energy in the state, evaluating the viability of traditional utilities’ business model moving forward, and considering whether nuclear energy will grow in the US. Schultz also comments on Arizona’s needed investments in infrastructure and the status of water in the Southwest.