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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Redwood Credit Union this week announced the opening of its new, full-service branch in Lower Lake.
The branch is located at 16095 Main St., at the corner of Highway 53 and Highway 29.
It’s a major investment by the credit union in Lower Lake, which sustained major losses to its downtown in the August 2016 Clayton fire.
To better accommodate RCU’s growing membership in Lake County, the new branch offers the community competitive personal and business loans, free checking, high-yield deposit options, home and auto loans, and concierge auto-buying services.
Comfortable technology areas for members to bank online and quickly access information is also offered, with staff readily available to assist. There’s also a children’s activity area.
“Our new Lower Lake branch is designed to offer an experience that goes beyond everyday banking, though that’s offered too,” said Brett Martinez, RCU president and CEO. “It’s a comfortable environment where individuals and businesses can get financial service – from money management to home and auto loans, and long-term financial planning. We’re excited to offer this new location to serve the Lower Lake community.”
With branch hours Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., plus an easy-to-access location, this Lower Lake branch is set up to make banking easy for its local members
Founded in 1950, Redwood Credit Union is a full-service financial institution providing personal and business banking to consumers and businesses in the North Bay and San Francisco.
RCU has over $4.9 billion in assets and serves more than 355,000 members with full-service branches from San Francisco to Ukiah.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The National Weather Service has issued the wind advisory that will be in effect from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Forecasters said an area of low pressure will bring a period of gusty northerly and easterly winds to the region on Sunday.
The strongest winds are expected on the west side of the Sacramento Valley and into Lake County and on higher elevations of the Sierra. The forecast said winds will begin to weaken Sunday night into Monday morning.
The advisory notes that northerly and easterly winds from 20 to 30 miles per hour and valley gusts between 30 to 45 miles per hour are expected, while upper foothills and mountain gusts of between 30 and 60 miles per hour and stronger gusts possible for the higher elevations also in the forecast.
The Lake County forecast anticipates gusts above 35 miles per hour in areas such as Cobb.
Over the coming week, temperatures in Lake County are forecast to be warmer – into the mid-40s at night and upper 60s during the day – thanks to sunny and clear conditions.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said its meteorologists are forecasting strong winds Sunday and into Monday throughout much of Northern and Central California and it’s urging customers to take the necessary steps to be prepared and stay safe.
PG&E emphasized that, while it’s tracking the system, it is not planning to call a public safety power shutoff as fuel and soil moisture values remain high due to winter season precipitation.
The company said it has electric and vegetation crews on alert and in position to be able to respond should outages occur.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Lake County is among the 13 listed by Ma as being the recipients of the assistance.
The federal credits, carried by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, and approved by the federal government in December, are intended to finance housing projects in 13 counties struck by wildfires in 2017 and 2018, including the Camp fire, the Tubbs fire, the Thomas fire and the Mendocino Complex.
In addition to Lake, the counties are Butte, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Sonoma, Ventura and Yuba.
“We want to make it crystal clear that these tax credits are going to help counties that have been devasted by disasters,” said Treasurer Ma. “I salute the resilience, dedication and creativity of these communities and I’m glad we can help them rebuild.”
State Senator Mike McGuire, D-Santa Rosa, thanked Treasurer Ma for her efforts. McGuire represents Lake County in the State Senate.
“This $100 million in tax credits will be a huge shot in the arm for the rebuilding of our communities and desperately needed affordable housing,” McGuire said. “We’re incredibly grateful to Treasurer Ma for moving so fast and ensuring the tax credits will be spent as intended – in the 13 counties devastated by these massive wildfires. We are also truly appreciative of the leadership of Congressmen Thompson and Huffman, who have been fighting to make this allocation a reality for over a year now.”
“It is critically important that our communities that have been hit hard by wildfires have all of the resources they need to rebuild and recover, which is why I carried legislation to provide $100 million in new federal tax credits to help create much needed affordable housing in disaster-stricken counties,” said Rep. Thompson. “I greatly appreciate Treasurer Ma’s commitment to ensuring that this assistance is allocated as Congress intended so that those displaced by wildfires can have access to affordable housing.”
In response to public comments finding the regulations unclear, CTCAC is revising regulations to give projects in the 13 counties two years to seek credits for housing projects.
Under federal regulations, the credits must be used within two years or lost. If there are any unused credits at the end of 2021, to avoid losing them, the new regulations allow projects seeking to house the homeless to apply.
The revised regulations would exempt communities hit by disaster from the typical 9 percent tax credit rules, which reward projects located close to amenities such as shopping, libraries and parks.
CTCAC is also working to develop regulations to ensure that the disaster areas occurring in large or wealthy counties are not given an unfair advantage over disaster areas in smaller counties or in counties with fewer people.
More information is available here.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The company said the plan expands and enhances its comprehensive Community Wildfire Safety Program, which was designed to address the growing threat of extreme weather and wildfires across its service area.
PG&E’s 2020 Wildfire Mitigation Plan is subject to public review and approval by the CPUC.
The 2020 Wildfire Mitigation Plan will continue expanded key safety work including new grid technology, hardening of the electric system, accelerated inspections of electric infrastructure, enhanced vegetation management around power lines, and real-time monitoring and situational awareness tools to better understand how severe weather can impact PG&E’s system.
PG&E’s 2020 plan includes changes to make public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, events smaller in scope and shorter in duration and to lessen the overall impacts of shutoffs while working to keep customers and communities safe during times of severe weather and high wildfire risk.
As part of the plans, PG&E said it is installing 592 automated sectionalizing devices on distribution lines with the aim of reducing the number of communities without power during a PSPS event and adding 23 transmission switches capable of redirecting power and keeping substations and transmission lines energized in some areas during a PSPS event.
The company said it also will work with local communities to operationalize additional microgrids that will allow customers and essential community services to stay energized during a PSPS event, it will expand its ability to provide backup power to some critical service providers, such as major transportation thoroughfares, water systems, medical centers and fire departments, and enhance meteorology technology for more precise PSPS events.
Other plans include increasing its helicopter fleet from 35 to 65 to patrol lines after a weather event has passed, using two fixed-wing aircrafts with infrared cameras capable of inspecting transmission lines at night, deploying additional field crews to patrol, inspect and repair power lines after a weather event has passed, and working closely with local, state and tribal officials to better coordinate for PSPS events.
The company said it will bolster its website and call center resources and continue to make improvements to information and resources available, will improve customer notifications about when power will be shut off for safety and when customers can expect it to be restored, work with local communities to improve the locations, availability and resources provided at community resource centers, and hosting a series of information open houses and webinars to provide information to customers and communities about systematic improvements and PSPS preparedness.
“We know how much our customers rely on electric service. Proactively turning off power disrupts lives and presents its own safety risks, which need to be carefully considered and addressed,” said Debbie Powell, vice president, asset & risk management, Community Wildfire Safety Program. “Turning off power for safety is not how we strive to serve our customers, and we are committed to reducing the impacts without compromising safety.”
PG&E’s 2020 Wildfire Mitigation Plan describes forecasted work and investments that will be executed this year to help further reduce the potential for wildfire ignitions associated with its electrical equipment in high fire-threat areas.
The plan addresses an array of wildfire risk factors through new and ongoing measures.
Among the safety steps and actions to be taken this year include:
– Pruning or removing more than one million trees to keep them away from power lines;
– Installing more than 240 miles of stronger and more resilient poles and covered power lines, along with targeted undergrounding;
– Adding approximately 400 new weather stations this year, which will keep PG&E on track to add a total of 1,300 new weather stations by 2021, a density of one station roughly every 20 circuit-miles in the high fire-risk areas;
– Installing nearly 200 new, high-definition cameras in high fire-threat areas, which will keep PG&E on track to add a total of 600 by 2022, increasing coverage across high fire-risk areas to more than 90 percent of its service area; and
– Coordinating prevention and response efforts by monitoring wildfire risks in real-time from the Wildfire Safety Operations Center.