Roundtable Guests:
Erik Anderson , reporter, KPBS News
Matt Hoffman, reporter, KPBS News
Bella Rosss, reporting intern, inewsource
SDG&E seeks increase for minimum rate customers
San Diego Gas & Electric says it needs to raise its minimum bill from $10 to $38 to account for a rise in customers who use solar power. The utility claims solar customers are paying so little that they don’t cover the cost of accessing the power grid. Alternative energy advocates say it’s a power grab, but SDG&E claims the move would be revenue neutral. State regulators will have to approve the request.
RELATED: Cities In San Diego County Want To Form Power Authority To Buy Clean Energy
SDSU bungles building repairs
Documents obtained by inewsource show how a multi-million dollar renovation project was bungled by SDSU. During spring term, the university was worried about missing a deadline that would have caused the school to lose public dollars for a project at the Professional Studies and Fine Arts building. People were sickened by fumes from the construction work, causing the entire building to close. It turns out staff had mistaken the deadline by a full year, meaning the work could have been delayed to summer months when fewer people were on campus.
RELATED: County sends violation notices to SDSU, contractors over noxious odors
Rhino birth signals progress in saving endangered species
This week, KPBS was granted access to Edward, the new Southern White Rhino calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The rhino was conceived by artificial insemination. Zookeepers hope this is an encouraging sign that the process can be replicated with the critically endangered Northern White Rhino species, using Southern White Rhinos as surrogates.
RELATED: Trump Administration Makes Major Changes To Protections For Endangered Species
