So far, Strenfel said, addressing a virtual audience during a PG&E broadcast Wednesday, the company has installed more than 1,600 weather stations that help meteorologists like him track wind, temperatures and humidity across its service area in California, which he said is 70,000 square miles, mostly in Northern California, but also parts of Southern California. So many of these stations are needed, Strenfel said, because a lot of weather can happen in those square miles, because of the state's varied topography,
San Jose residents served by PG&E see relief in their energy bills this month with a 2.1 percent decrease in residential electric rates effective September 1, 2025. For a typical household using 500 kilowatt hours monthly without discounts, this translates to about five dollars in savings each month. Gas rates also dipped by 0.4 percent, adding roughly 39 cents in monthly savings for average users at 31 therms.
PG&E's Elkhorn battery storage system, comprising 256 Tesla megapack batteries, automatically disconnected from the electrical grid when the nearby Vistra battery storage system ignited in January. The Elkhorn system remained inactive until June, when Tesla, which maintains the system, began a series of operational and safety checks in hopes of resuming operations that month. During its tests, a clamp failure in one of the megapacks caused a coolant leak.
Emails obtained by San José Spotlight show Teresa Alvarado, a regional vice president of the Bay Area's $40 billion power utility, ran meetings three times a week with campaign volunteers to discuss fundraising, endorsements, mail and media strategy for Chavez-Lopez.
Instead of tickets, drivers going 11 miles or more above the speed limit are getting a "courtesy warning notice," with no penalties and no response needed.