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City Council Watch – November 19, 2024
City Council, 6 PM: 2023 Power Content Label; Glendale Water and Power, re: Plan to Increase Glendale Water and Power (GWP) Customer Solar Adoption and Develop Additional Distributed Energy Resources (E3 Study)
City Council Watch – October 22, 2024
City Council, 6 PM: Assm. Friedman Legislative Update; Various PSA and PSA updates for Water Conservation Compliance Efforts, Climate Action & Adaptation Plan, Recycling Center Master Plan, Grayson Unit 9 Chiller Maintenance.
Commission Watch – GWP Commission – October 7, 2024
This week at the GWP Commission: E3 / Wildan present Plan to Increase Solar Adoption and Develop Additional Distributed Energy Resources
Glendale Environmental Coalition has officially endorsed LA County Measure GCC
GEC voted to endorse Measure GCC as the improvements to the Glendale Community College campuses are significant and include many alignments with GEC’s values and objectives.
324 schools in California to Install dishwashers thanks to Senator Portantino and GEC co-sponsored grant program!
324 schools in California, including Glenoaks Elementary and Fremont Elementary in GUSD, will be installing dishwashers thanks to funding acquired by Senator Portantino, inspired by advocacy by GEC and GREEN LUNCHROOM and the original pilot at Franklin Elementary!
GEC Endorses Climate Leaders
GEC Endorses Climate Leaders: Assemblymember Laura Friedman, Nick Schultz and Sasha Renée Pérez in our next election!
City Owned Solar Development Program Update
The proposed solar project at the Sports Complex is one of six, phase-one City Owned Solar projects that will help generate local clean energy in Glendale. The canopy solar at the Sports Complex parking lot will have a 1,343 kW capacity, generating over 2 million kWh of clean solar energy annually and provide shade (a bonus!) for parked cars.
Support the Plastic Waste Reduction Ordinance!
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 @ 6PM Glendale City Council will vote to adopt the Plastic Waste Reduction Ordinance, which we consider to be an excellent collection of the best practices from around the state that will help us to finally combat the scourge of plastic pollution in our city.
Point-of-sale vouchers now available to purchase discounted zero-emission landscaping equipment
Spread the word! Small businesses and sole proprietors can purchase discounted zero-emission lawn mowers, blowers and more through funding from the CARB’s Clean Off-Road Equipment (CORE). There are $27 million of voucher funds available, but funding will go fast.
“Climate change is the single biggest thing that humans have ever done on this planet. The one thing that needs to be bigger is our movement to stop it.”
—Bill McKibben
Latest Glendale City Flyers – Events & News
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Here is information about Grassroots’ upcoming webinar on artificial turf. ![]()
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"The debate over the safety and environmental impact of artificial turf fields is going on in communities across the country, driven by new science showing significant health and safety impacts for young athletes and startling new evidence of widespread plastic and PFAS pollution."![]()
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Please join us on January 23rd at 1pm Eastern, 10 am Pacific, for an![]()
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in-depth look at the new science. and its implications for towns, cities and schools across the country. ![]()
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For more info and to register, go to:
How Green Is My Town - Artificial Turf Webinar
howgreenismytown.org
Learn about the science linking artificial turf fields with significant health and safety concerns for young athletes and widespread environmental damage including plastic and PFAS pollution.
Kudos to Burbank for their waste reduction ordinance! Reducing and eliminating non-recylable, non-compostable waste needs to be prioritized by all municipalities. The cost to manage waste is born by us all. It does not just go "away". Glendale has made progress (Skip the Stuff ordinance, Polysytrene ban, organics implementation, municipal foodware and beverage container requirements etc.), but our city has some catching up to do. ![]()
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GEC HOPES FOR YOUR SUPPORT for an expansion of Glendale's current ordinance in 2025, to at least include two of the regulations that Burbank has adopted but Glendale has not yet adopted: (1) the requirement that take-out foodware be recyclable in City operations or compostable and (2) the requirement that dine in establishments use reusable foodware (with time to prepare for this.) ![]()
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Here are those two components as adopted by Burbank:![]()
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1. Non-recyclable and non-compostable foodware for take-out:![]()
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Effective January 1, 2026, the ordinance prohibits food service businesses from using non-recyclable and/or non-compostable foodware. Businesses will be required to provide recyclable and/or compostable per- and polyfluoroalkyl free substance (PFAS-free) foodware for take-out customers. PFAS are long-lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time and may have harmful effects on humans and animals. ![]()
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2. Reusable foodware for dine-in:![]()
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Effective January 1, 2026, the ordinance prohibits Burbank food service businesses from providing disposable foodware for customers dining on-site.
Waste Reduction Regulations Ordinance - Public Works - City of Burbank
www.burbankca.gov
Many single-use plastics, paper cups, cutlery, and takeout containers cannot be recycled locally. Even "compostable" plastic (bioplastic) items are not accepted in many local compost programs.
Don't believe the utility hype. We don’t have too much solar in California (or in Glendale). We need to focus, both here and throughout the state, on capturing that solar in storage for hot summer days, increased daytime use as we electrify and needs increase, regular evening use and resiliency. Remember, GWP is now becoming Chevron/Arco/etc. Solar, privately owned and municipally owned, will help serve that load. Click the link to see all the charts.![]()
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"Recent news reports have focused on the fact that California sometimes makes more solar energy than it uses. While this does happen sometimes, California does not have too much solar energy. Here’s why:![]()
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The real story is about hot summer days, not mild, spring days.![]()
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These news stories tend to focus on mild, sunny spring days when the days are getting longer but temperatures remain cool. On those days, solar farms make a lot of energy, but we don’t use a lot of electricity, resulting in a surplus. ![]()
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But our electrical grid is not built for mild spring days. It is built for hot summer days when electricity demand is the highest. ![]()
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It’s like the bus system. We make sure we have enough buses for rush hour, even if that means we have more buses than we need the rest of the time.![]()
![]()
Solar is meeting electricity demand on hot summer days like it's supposed to.![]()
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Look at the dark yellow at the top of the chart. That’s all the rooftop solar made that day. It’s a lot! ![]()
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Every drop of rooftop solar is electricity that the utilities do not have to deliver. That helps avoid billions of dollars of grid costs. And helps California avoid blackouts.![]()
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We need more batteries, not less solar.![]()
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Look at the orange and red in the evening hours. That is energy from batteries that were charged by rooftop solar and solar farm panels. ![]()
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It’s not a lot, but it is growing fast. This is what California needs to focus on: more batteries charged by more solar panels. The more batteries we have to store our extra energy during the day, the more energy we can use when the sun isn’t shining.![]()
![]()
That will be helpful not only on hot summer days, but also on those mild spring days. ![]()
![]()
The more solar energy from rooftops, the better.![]()
![]()
If California is serious about encouraging people to switch to electric cars and appliances, then demand on the grid is going to skyrocket. ![]()
![]()
California should meet as much of that increased demand as possible from rooftop solar and batteries, and make up the difference with solar farms. That will reduce the need for the utility to spent ratepayer money on expensive grid upgrades to deliver more energy from far away solar and wind farms. ![]()
![]()
Poles and wires and other grid costs are the reason why California’s electricity rates are so high. In fact 90% of the recent rate hikes are due to utility spending increases on poles and wires. Regulators rarely question utility spending claims. It’s even more rare that they audit utility spending to ensure the money was spent wisely. ![]()
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So let’s work to make solar panels and batteries more available to millions more homeowners, apartments, schools, farms, and businesses! It’s a win win for everyone."![]()
[solarrights.org/blog/2024/12/13/curtailment/](solarrights.org/blog/2024/12/13/curtailment/)![]()
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"Recent news reports have focused on the fact that California sometimes makes more solar energy than it uses. While this does happen sometimes, California does not have too much solar energy. Here’s why:![]()
![]()
The real story is about hot summer days, not mild, spring days.![]()
![]()
These news stories tend to focus on mild, sunny spring days when the days are getting longer but temperatures remain cool. On those days, solar farms make a lot of energy, but we don’t use a lot of electricity, resulting in a surplus. ![]()
![]()
But our electrical grid is not built for mild spring days. It is built for hot summer days when electricity demand is the highest. ![]()
![]()
It’s like the bus system. We make sure we have enough buses for rush hour, even if that means we have more buses than we need the rest of the time.![]()
![]()
Solar is meeting electricity demand on hot summer days like it's supposed to.![]()
![]()
Look at the dark yellow at the top of the chart. That’s all the rooftop solar made that day. It’s a lot! ![]()
![]()
Every drop of rooftop solar is electricity that the utilities do not have to deliver. That helps avoid billions of dollars of grid costs. And helps California avoid blackouts.![]()
![]()
We need more batteries, not less solar.![]()
![]()
Look at the orange and red in the evening hours. That is energy from batteries that were charged by rooftop solar and solar farm panels. ![]()
![]()
It’s not a lot, but it is growing fast. This is what California needs to focus on: more batteries charged by more solar panels. The more batteries we have to store our extra energy during the day, the more energy we can use when the sun isn’t shining.![]()
![]()
That will be helpful not only on hot summer days, but also on those mild spring days. ![]()
![]()
The more solar energy from rooftops, the better.![]()
![]()
If California is serious about encouraging people to switch to electric cars and appliances, then demand on the grid is going to skyrocket. ![]()
![]()
California should meet as much of that increased demand as possible from rooftop solar and batteries, and make up the difference with solar farms. That will reduce the need for the utility to spent ratepayer money on expensive grid upgrades to deliver more energy from far away solar and wind farms. ![]()
![]()
Poles and wires and other grid costs are the reason why California’s electricity rates are so high. In fact 90% of the recent rate hikes are due to utility spending increases on poles and wires. Regulators rarely question utility spending claims. It’s even more rare that they audit utility spending to ensure the money was spent wisely. ![]()
![]()
So let’s work to make solar panels and batteries more available to millions more homeowners, apartments, schools, farms, and businesses! It’s a win win for everyone."
No, we don't have too much solar in California. This chart shows why.
solarrights.org
Solar is doing exactly what it is supposed to do: deliver power on hot summer days. And rooftop solar is the star of the show!