What is Nevada County Doing to Prepare for the Onslaught of EVs

Russ Steele

The Energy Commission webpage has some details on regional preparation for EVs.  What are we doing in Nevada County?

The Sacramento region about to become much more friendly to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), thanks to a $200,000 planning grant from the California Energy Commission 

“Before cleaner, battery-powered vehicles can become an important part of California’s transportation mix, drivers must feel confident they will find adequate charging stations when they need them,” said Energy Commissioner Carla Peterman. “With this grant to the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), local planners can decide where best to add chargers in the six county region. Local governments can streamline the permitting, installation and inspection of plug-in chargers, and insure that consumers know about the charging improvements and the benefits provided by electric vehicles.”

The $200,000 Energy Commission grant will allow the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the project’s lead entity, to create the “Capital Area Plug-in Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council (CAPEVCC).” The council will include public and private leaders from counties, cities, public agencies, community organizations, private industry, higher education, and utilities. The council will help promote the use of plug-in electric vehicles in the Sacramento area and create a set of consistent best management practices to simplify their introduction.

So, what will raise the confident of visitors to Grass Valley and Nevada City that they will find charging stations in the community?  Right now the closest one is Auburn.  No 220 volt EV charging station are listed in Nevada County.

Where our grant to form the Nevada County Area Plug-in Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council (NCAPEVCC)? If 15% of all vehicles are going to be EVs, Grass Valley and Nevada City are certainly going to need a slew of charging stations, not only for the locals but all those visitors from Sacramento driving their EVs. Without a Nevada County charging station these Sacramento Visitors will never make it home.  They will not have to worry about Bay Area visitor, as they can not make it here in their EVs, with out a 4 hour charge in Sacramento.  but, if they do make it here, they will need a full charge to get back to Sacramento.

How is That Union PayWall Working Out?

Russ Steele

The Union launched a Pay Wall on the 23rd of January.  I am doing some long term tracking under the Union Readers navigation button above, however it can be informative to take a quick look snapshot.

 One word of caution, these are small numbers. The real world will be more evident over a much longer period. The name of the game is capturing eyeballs and the initial response is fewer online eyeballs at the Union web site.   Stay Tuned

The data used in the chart above was taken from Quantcast

Silicon Valley Economy Recovering Faster Than Nation

Russ Steele

CNET has this positive story.

Silicon Valley is experiencing a surge in job growth and wealth, outpacing the national economic recovery, according to a new report released today.

Silicon Valley added 42,000 jobs last year, an increase of 3.8 percent, much higher than the nation’s 1.1 percent growth rate, according to the 2012 Silicon Valley Index (PDF), a report issued by nonprofits Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The unemployment rate for the region declined 1.4 percent to end the year at 8.3 percent, on par with the national average but well below California’s rate of 10.9 percent. However, the region’s workforce has not recovered to 2007 levels.

You can read the rest HERE.

However, there are still some problems that need to be solved, the highly educated are benefiting, but jobs are not trickling down to mid-level jobs.

“Silicon Valley does seem to be mounting a fairly impressive recovery,” said Russell Hancock, president and chief executive of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit that compiles the index annually along with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. “We were the last to succumb to the national recession, and we appear to be the first emerging out of it.”

Hancock said the improving economy hasn’t resulted in the same widespread benefits as previous periods of growth. In the past, he said, advances in the high-tech industry would also create many mid-level jobs that served as the “spine” of Silicon Valley.

This time around, what Hancock called a “bonanza” for highly educated workers hasn’t trickled down.

Let hope some that high tech Silicon Valley job growth reaches Nevada County.