Okay, so it's not a slogan for the visitor bureau, but my Reno Gazette-Journal today reported that this year's runoff has hit peak and will be on a diminishing trend from now on.

I'm not sure if this forecast took into account the May snow I drove through on my way here or the cloudy skies above, but certainly a few flakes has little effect on a 72-mile, 1,000-ft-deep lake.

Aside from being a disappointment for Lake Tahoe, with river runoff projections as low as 38 percent, this will undoubtedly impact hydroelectric capacity as we look into summer. Apparently, last week's heatwave burned right through the snowpack, causing a quick and final rise in stream and river levels before they begin their steady drop with rising summer temperatures. It seems that the optimism of early winter's heavy snows went down the proverbial drain.

As for Tahoe, the Federal Water Master's Office in Reno reports that, after the couple of inches that should come with this weekend's thunderstorms (great), the rate of lake evaporation will exceed river and stream runoff, and Tahoe will begin to drop. A sad reality, though definitely not a first for this Cal-Neva treasure.

NPR caught my ear this morning with an interview with reporter Kate Golden at The Juneau Empire in Alaska's capital. Juneau residents and the city have launched an aggressive effort to save energy in the wake of an avalanche in April that toppled the transmission grid linking the city to a hydroelectric dam 40 miles away.

 | Listen Now | 4min 30sec | NPR, Morning Edition |

Diesel generators are running to keep the lights on but energy bills will soar on higher fuel costs while repairs are made over an expected three months. So the people of Juneau responded quickly to an urgent financial signal and discovered conservation in a big way:  there was a run on clothespins to hang out the wash to dry, energy-efficient light bulbs sold out, stores and offices dimmed the lights, TVs went dark, and families dined by candlelight. The result: electrical usage plummeted as much as 30 percent within a week of the avalanche.

"Turn off, turn down, unplug," said Sarah Lewis, chairwoman of the Juneau Commission on Sustainability. "That's what everyone is doing and being vigilant about and commenting when others are not."

The city of Juneau is helping low-income residents with energy costs and the governor has declared an "economic injury" which could bring in funds from the federal Small Business Administration. And the repairs may go faster than expected: reporter Golden told NPR the first transmission tower was likely to go up this afternoon.

A report released yesterday by the Energy Information Administration paints an unfortunate image of the state of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions - they are going up faster than the rate of electricity generation. 

According to the report, emissions from the electricity sector rose by three percent as electricity generation rose by 2.5 percent. This means that U.S. electricity generation was actually dirtier in 2007 than in the previous year. 

The EIA states that the relative increase in emissions reflects a decrease in hydroelectric generation due in large part to droughts, forcing utilities to use natural gas, a cleaner form of fossil generation than coal, but still one with a carbon footprint.  Natural gas produces about 40 percent less CO2 than coal. 

A more frightening finding in the report is that the vast majority of this increase did not come from industry, but from households.  According to Environmental Capital, U.S. industry continued to cut emissions, which it has done since 1990.  Households, on the other hand, increased emissions by 4.4%.  The EIA points out that this reflects the fact that more Americans are enjoying a higher standard of living, complete with flat screen TV's and central air conditioning systems.

This result provides another stark example of the need for public policy that aligns the utilities' economic incentives with environmental stewardship.  Below are a few policy steps that would create these proper incentives:

1. Extend the renewable energy tax credits:  The House again passed a bill to extend these credits and now it awaits a Senate vote.  Passing the extensions would send a clear signal to entrepreneurs to start building these renewables projects and to utilities that they could count on this clean future energy supply.

2.  Decoupling:  By decoupling a utilities' revenues from the amount of energy it sells, it creates a disincentive for utilities to sell more energy.  In other words, create a financial incentive for utilities to earn on energy savings, not energy sales.  This way utilities, who interact daily with every American and all businesses, can serve as a conservation ambassador driving good public policy.

It works.  In California we've had decoupling laws for thirty years.  During this time period, the state's per capita energy use has remained flat, while the rest of the country's has increased by 50 percent.  For PG&E's customers, it has meant savings of $22 billion and the avoidance of 135 million tons of CO2. 

Meanwhile, California - the world's sixth-largest economy - has seen economic output per unit of energy improve by 40 percent, versus only 8 percent for the remainder of the country.  In other words, we can have economic growth and help the environment.

3.  Pass federal greenhouse gas emissions reduction legislation:  A harmonized federal policy will create clear direction for utilities, industry, and citizens.  A patchwork of laws will only make it harder for these players to take action in a meaningful way. 

A recent report by the NRDC and Ceres, sponsored by PG&E and PSEG, benchmarked the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from electricity generation and looked at the abatement impact of competing emissions reduction legislation.  The report provides a good starting point to understanding the different types of approaches to legislating greenhouse gas emissions and to the complex nature of regulating utilities with varying levels of CO2 output.

Wind power could provide 20% of U.S. electricity needs by 2030, according to a new DOE report released this week.

The report, titled "20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy's Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply," identifies the steps that need to be addressed to reach the 20% goal.  According to the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog, obstacles include reducing the cost of wind technologies, building new transmission infrastructure, and enhancing domestic manufacturing capability.

Wind currently accounts for about three percent of PG&E's energy mix and we've added more than 250 MW to our future contract mix over the past nine months.  That means that we have 1061 MW of wind energy under contract or delivered.

However, as much as we believe in adding clean renewable sources to our mix, wind poses a bit of a challenge for all of California's utilities.

Wind blows at night in California, which means that we're getting a renewable source during a time when we don't need a significant amount of energy.  In the past, we've been able to store wind energy via the Helms Hydroelectric facility to be used during the day time peak demand hours (roughly 11 am to 7 pm).  We use the clean wind power to pump water uphill to a reservoir, where it is stored.  Then during the day, we generate electricity by running the water through the hydroelectric facility.  It's truly an amazing engineering feat, yet requires a significant capital investment. 

We're also looking at electric vehicles as a way to store off-peak generated wind energy.  At some point we could see plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) serving as mobile storage facilities. Our customers would plug their PHEV in to a 120 volt outlet at home during the night following their daily commute.  Then each car would sell back the energy to the grid when needed during the day.  The car would communicate with the utility, so that it knows exactly how much to take depending on the driver's needs. 

We're a few years off from this scenario, but we've been doing some interesting partner work with Google and Tesla, and discussing the need for more electric vehicles (EVs) with the major U.S. automakers. 

With advancements in battery technology we could also have onsite storage capacity, whereby wind energy is stored at the generation facility and brought on the grid during the day when demand is highest. We're also working with venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to develop this market. 

Whether it's onsite or through PHEVs, it's clear that we'll need improved storage capacity to truly take advantage of California's abundant, yet off-peak wind supply.  It should be interesting to see how this plays out.