Santa Clara County Resilience Digest

The California Public Utilities Commission will consider on May 9 a new proposal that would change how Californians pay for electricity.

A California Republican’s bill would exempt low and middle income wildfire victims from solar panels requirements on rebuilt homes that didn’t have them when they burned down.

It quickly became clear that Elon Musk’s SpaceX was responsible for the show. The lights were a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 new Starlink satellites into orbit. The rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:30 p.m., and it’s trail was visible from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree National Park.

At a recent breakfast with local business leaders, PG&E executives outlined upcoming projects to improve reliability and increase capacity in the Silicon Valley region.

Hundreds of residents in the Santa Cruz Mountains are facing limited access in and out of the area due to a creeping landslide affecting Mountain Charley Road.

As energy costs go up and awareness of the environmental footprint increases, people are turning to energy consultants for energy audits and advice.

A tornado stuck Kings county briefly, and another touched down in Madera county, as favorable conditions came together during a powerful winter storm which swept the region.

State officials determined that Rancho Palos Verdes can utilize an already-established state of emergency to expedite landslide stabilization efforts as the crisis escalates.

While Bay Area residents have criticized PG&E for not being better prepared for power outages, Los Gatos residents are increasingly turning to their community for help. Enter Mark Zhang, a “prepper” of sorts who collects supplies in the event of a natural disaster or emergency.

When Palo Alto changed its building code in 2022 to require that every new building be all-electric, city leaders and local environmentalists lauded it as key to meeting their sustainability goals.

California’s utility regulators are exploring energy bill reforms that would structure charges based on household income. If done correctly, the change shift the cost for maintaining the grid to higher earners who can afford it.

Los Angeles County flood control network withstands punishing rains—for now.

The storm fed off of unusually warm waters as it grew. It also reached “bomb cyclone” status as it neared California.

An updated earthquake hazard map from USGS shows a high shaking risk in California.

Hundreds of San Diego homes and businesses were damaged or ruined in devastating floods after punishing rainfall fell on Jan. 22.

As the FAIR Plan writes more fire-insurance policies, homeowners complain about poor service, rising costs and threats of getting kicked off.

Our understanding and preparedness have come a long way since Southern California’s magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1994. We’re still learning from that destructive temblor.

Two-thirds of community college students in California admit to struggling to meet basic needs. The California Community Colleges’ Student Ambassador Program has empowered more than 50 students to act as resource guides to help them.

Prescribed burns, used to limit destructive wildfires, are growing in frequency at California State Parks. But as the smoke drifts into residential areas, it’s easy to see why many Californians are concerned about the health impacts.

Inevitable change—and what to do about it—challenged Los Altos area residents throughout the past year.

In downtown Oakland, a new 19-story apartment tower with 236 units could be left sitting vacant because of a shortage of components required to connect the building to the electrical grid.

The Bureau of Reclamation, which manages federal water such as the Central Valley Project, has a new regional director for the California-Great Basin Region.

The Santa Clara City Council voted to approve an update to the city’s zoning dode and passed a resolution to join “United Against Hate.”

An effort spearheaded by the Newsom administration and congressional leaders resulted in Congress authorizing and accelerating the transfer of seven C-130 aircraft from the U.S. Coast Guard to CalFire, expanding California’s firefighting fleet.

A local economist startled by the staggering disparities pushing African Americans to the margins in Santa Clara County is launching a video and podcast project hoping to bring more attention to the issue.

2023 has broken climate records, accompanied by extreme weather which has left a trail of devastation, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Feelings of frustration are mounting for two groups of employees that work for the city of Milpitas. 
The employees’ contracts expired June 30 — and the future outlook for their renewal is uncertain.  

The pain for Indigenous tribes in Santa Clara County is generational, dating back hundreds of years. The county's Muwekma Ohlone people, once a population of 30,000, now number at about 600.

Santa Clara County has agreed to a $90,000 settlement with a Muslim woman who said her hijab was inappropriately removed when she was being booked into jail last year.

Residents of Planada and Pajaro want state aid to help alleviate debt incurred from rebuilding after January floods. Local officials want some money to go elsewhere.

With war raging in the Middle East, the Silicon Valley chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hosted an event called “The Israel-Palestine Crisis: Call For Peace” at the Baitul Baseer Mosque as “a live discussion on the heartbreaking situation unfolding between Israel and Palestine."

Much of California could get hit by extreme weather conditions this winter. A major storm is due to hit Northern California this week.