The state set a record for power consumption Tuesday as air conditioners whirred amid the heat and authorities nearly instituted rolling blackouts when the electrical grid capacity was at its breaking point. Nearly 54 million people were under heat warnings and advisories across the region this week as temperature records were shattered in many areas.Ĭalifornia's state capital of Sacramento hit an all-time high Tuesday of 116 degrees (46.7 C), breaking a 97-year-old record. September already has produced one of the hottest and longest heat waves on record for California and some other Western states. "You just kind of have to accept the weather is the weather and live your life regardless of what is going on." "It's been a wild, wild week of weather," French said, while sending a disc whizzing through the unusually quiet park. A midday breeze made playing more comfortable after a week of stifling heat and humidity. In Orange County's Huntington Beach, it was hot, muggy and drizzling Saturday as Aaron French, 30, played disc golf with friends. Some mountain communities east of San Diego reported several inches of rain by early Saturday, while low-lying coastal areas saw less than an inch. #Transparent california fullBut firefighters have made progress and said they expected full containment on Monday. The blaze has destroyed two dozen structures and threatened more than 10,000 homes and other structure. In Southern California, cooler temperatures and moisture brought respite to firefighters battling the massive Fairview Fire about 75 miles (121 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles after sweltering heat pushed temperatures past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in many locations this week. "Is the worst of it over? Yes," Dumas said. But after Hurricane Kay made landfall in Mexico this week it quickly was downgraded to a tropical storm and weakened further until it largely disappeared, said John Dumas, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard, adding the scattered rain falling in the region is leftover moisture from a has-been storm. Thunderstorms were forecast for the Los Angeles region Saturday that could linger in mountainous areas on Sunday. If transparency in California is to be maintained, this agency must be called out on its policies or other state organizations will follow their example.Weather California and the West broil in record-setting heat wave Since then, there have been more and more stories of the commission skirting its constitutional duty by hiding behind a century-old law. While the city of San Bruno eventually lost their battle due to the Utilities Code’s ban on suing in superior court, it at least achieved a settlement. Following an explosion in 2010, the City of San Bruno began a lengthy legal battle against the commission which began to bring attention to the commission’s ridiculous policies. The fight against the PUC is already in motion. The level of arrogance being demonstrated by the California Utilities Commission flies directly in the face of our state constitution which guarantees every Californian’s right to public records. This makes for a far more difficult and costly process that deters most applicants. With most state agencies, an appeal can be filed in a local superior court, but with the Utilities Commission an appeal must be filed in the state appeals or even supreme court. The commission allows just a 10-day window for a requester to file an appeal, or they lose their right to make an appeal! Compare this to the 90-day period allowed by the Federal Freedom of Information Act. Normally, when a request for records is denied the requester may seek independent arbitration in a court of law, but at the commission things work differently. Between January of 2017 and April 2022, the average request for agency records took 58 days with several requests taking between six and 27 months. The commission has a history of unreasonable delays and excuses that make public records requests from the organization highly challenging. #Transparent california codeThe Utilities Code restricts public employees from releasing confidential information submitted by a utility, unless ordered to by the commission, by making them guilty of a misdemeanor charge. This legal hurdle actually creates an opportunity for the Commission to broadly avoid giving over public records. Today the commission employs more than 1000 workers and maintains a budget of $1.1 billion. A law enacted more than a century ago to curb corruption from railroad barons is now being used by the California Utilities Commission to evade public records requests and shirk the agency’s responsibility to voters.ĭrafted in response to concerns over the influence of the Southern Pacific Railroad during the 1910’s, the Public Utilities Code provides the agency with a far greater level of independence than most state agencies.
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