This morning at 9:15 a.m., power at 12 Metro Red and Purple Line train stations between Wilshire/Western and North Hollywood went out for 55 minutes, according to a Metro Spokesperson. No one was hurt or injured, and operations slowed down but never fully stopped. However, patrons riding in elevators at two stations, Wilshire/Normandie and Vermont/Sunset, were stuck for at least fifteen minutes before fire department crews could rescue them. While the Dept. of Water &......

Southern California Edison (SCE) announced that they've now recycled 700,000 refrigerators in the last 15 years since the beginning of their Refrigerator and Freezer Recycling Program. The program has two parts: (1) you get $50 to recycle the fridge, and (2), you get another $50 if you buy a new Energy Star qualified fridge. According to SCE's director of energy efficiency per the Power Plug blog, people spend about an extra $300 a year with......

Pacific Gas & Electric, a utility that most serves Northern California, may join the No on Prop 8 campaign tomorrow at a press conference. "They know exactly what they are doing here. They need some credibility with the left, especially in San Francisco," writes Brian Leubitz at Calitics. "As for other companies, I expect we'll see a few other businesses." Which businesses in Southern California will join in? Will Southern California Edison? How about Southern......

Time to hunker down and flex your power, so says state officials. "The California Independent System Operator (CAISO), charged with managing the electricity grid in California, has issued a Flex Alert for Tuesday, July 8th through Thursday, July 10th," an e-mail alert states. "Due to the current hot weather, electricity conservation is necessary."......

SuggestionBoxLA to Metro - No Idling on Layover! Rising fuel costs is impacting everybody, even mass transit customers, according to the Daily News. Transit Agencies use a variety of fuels ranging from diesel to CNG to electricity to Propane to gasoline. The situation is so dire that the State of California has a mechanism in place to set aside money from the State budget to send to transportation when fuel prices spike.......

Photo by AZAdam via Flickr Only 102 of the 958 city buildings expected to get CFLs have installed the energy-efficient lightbulbs and City Controller Laura Chick is saying that the program is not going fast enough. So far, the city has replaced enough to save $1.5 million on the annual $27-million power bill. However, replacing the bulbs came at the price of $5 million, but costs are expected to be recovered over time with......

Notice that all of the San Fernando Valley is covered except Studio City and Toluca Lake. Other parts of the city that fall into the hot zone are on the Eastside and South LA | Map via Dept. of Water & Power This map shows summer average daily temperatures for the microclimates of the City of Los Angeles and was performed by the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at UCLA. The two temperature zones were......

California to Metal Balloons: "You're Fiscally Evil" | Photo by Iain Farrell via Flickr Those cute and innocent helium-metallic balloons we give to kids may soon be outlawed by California legislators. Yes, that's right, the great State of California is outlawing fun. Apparently, if you want the f-word, go to Wisconsin or something. But seriously, Sen. Jack Scott, D-Altadena, proposed to ban metallic balloons filled with helium because when they get loose, they can......

Photo by neonspecs via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr The LA City Council today voted to postpone a vote on proposed DWP fee hikes until April 2nd. Citing the need for widespread infrastructure upgrades that would ideally prevent customers from losing power when the demand is high, for example in summer's probably heat waves, the DWP is looking to increase "base power rates by 8½ percent and water rates by more than six percent......

After successfully getting into the habit of bringing my own bags to the grocery store and saving 40% on my electric bills with CFLs, it's time to revisit something that was my first step in going green: no more paper throw-aways. This has been one of the easiest, non-thinking green steps ever. So easy, I forgot I was doing it. I invested in about fifteen cloth towels and haven't bought paper napkins or towels in......

Some fresh AIR would be really great right about now. Har har har!!! I'm such a card. Now, really, how about Air at the Greek this month, courtesy of LAist: head on over to enter our Labor Day Weekend Air Contest. In the category of Thank God It Hasn't Happened to Us Yet: over twenty thousand homes and businesses have lost power this weekend. If you're on the roads tonight, please drive safely, use......

These are the last days of summer. At least that's what they say on the news and in the marketplace. But here in Southern California, it only gets hotter as the days grow shorter. (At least the pools won't close just yet). But -- Holy Dallas Raines -- early this morning, with temps stuck in the mid-70s, we've got thunder and lightning! Unfortunately, the electricity in the air has no bearing on California's energy supply,......