Press Room 2011

The National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend more on holiday decorations this Christmas season than they did last year. But thanks to new lighting technology, consumers may find their resulting energy bills going down.

Click here to learn more.

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power (GWP) mailed a Prop. 218 notice to all customers and property owners, explaining the proposed water rate design and revenue adjustments that will be recommended to the Glendale City Council at a public hearing on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 6:00p.m., Council Chambers, 613. E. Broadway, 2nd floor. The proposed water rates will ensure that the water utility collects sufficient revenue to cover fixed expenses, fund capital improvements through revenue bonding, and build up cash reserves to fund ongoing repair and replacement of the water system in future years to maintain reliable service.

Due to extreme wind conditions we are experiencing various power outages throughout the City. Please be aware our crews have been dispatched and are working to restore your power as soon as possible. Customers that currently have power may experience temporary outages throughout the day as crews repair downed lines and damaged poles in your neighborhoods. There is no damage to water facilities. If power lines have fallen please stay away from them and report it immediately to our GWP emergency center at 818-548-2011.

Due to the recent high winds, Glendale Water & Power reports approximately 10,000 of its 84,800 customers experienced power outages. Power has been restored to the majority of the customers except for about 200 customers at various locations. Electrical facilities serving these customers require repairs and would take some time to complete. GWP has all its available crews working around the clock since last night and are working as diligently and safely as possible to restore all services.

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Community College will host a Smart Energy and Water Community Forum on November 17, 2011 at the Glendale Community College Student Center from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. The community is invited to attend to learn more about Glendale Water & Power’s Smart Grid project. Local, statewide and national panelists will address key consumer issues and concerns that have surfaced in the industry including privacy and radio frequency effects.

Click here to download the flyer for the forum.

To consider adoption of a City of Glendale Renewable Portfolio Standard Enforcement Program and to amend the City of Glendale's 2003 Renewable Portfolio Standard to increase Glendale's Renewable Portfolio to 33% by December 31, 2020

The City of Glendale intends to sell for cash at Public Auction Sale No. 2011-3 to the highest net bidder on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the City Hall, 613 East Broadway, Glendale, California, a 29,190 +/- square-foot, residentially zoned property improved with an old electrical substation building (the “Property”), in an “as-is where-is” condition.

Notice of Public Auction

The GWP website and online account system will be unavailable Saturday, November 12th, between 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Joint effort with Opower, NRDC and Facebook aims to motivate millions of people to take action, become more energy efficient, and help protect the environment

Glendale, CA – Glendale Water & Power and three other U.S. utilities are the first to participate in a new social media application that offers customers the ability to import usage data into a new Facebook social energy application. The first-of-its-kind application is a partnership with Opower, Facebook and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that uses the power of social media to raise consumer awareness about energy consumption. The new application will enable consumers who choose to participate to benchmark their home’s energy usage against a national average of similar homes, compare their energy use with friends, enter energy-saving competitions, and share tips on how to become more energy efficient.

Joint effort aims to motivate hundreds of millions of people to take action, become more energy efficient, and help protect the environment

ARLINGTON, Va., PALO ALTO, Calif., and WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oct. 17, 2011 – Facebook, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Opower today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to use the power of social networking to raise consumer awareness about energy consumption through a joint development of a new social energy application. Leveraging the Facebook platform, the app will enable consumers who choose to participate to benchmark their home’s energy usage against a national average of similar homes, compare their energy use with friends, enter energy-saving competitions, and share tips on how to become more energy efficient.

The management and staff of GWP would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to you - our customers. During the week of October 17th-20th visit our booth in our lobby for information on our public benefit assistance programs and services. We look forward to seeing you. Our customer service representatives will be available to assist you from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. each day!

GLENDALE, California – On Wednesday, October 5, 2011 a man impersonating a Glendale Water & Power employee knocked on a resident’s door in the 1400 block of E. Wilson, stating that he was there to check on the quality of the water inside the home. The customer allowed this individual posing as a GWP employee to come in. The customer asked for his ID, but he stated it was in the car. The GWP impersonator went into the kitchen and turned on the faucet stating that because of recent rain there was a water quality issue and asked the customer to remain in the kitchen and look at the faucet for 5 minutes then turn it off, while he went outside to check on things. After five minutes the customer realized the man had left her residence. Shortly after, the customer noticed that items from her home were missing.

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power yesterday installed its final Smart Meter on the campus of Glendale Community College. This final installation event marks a historic event for the utility that has been the frontrunner on many issues, including being the first in the nation to sign the Department of Energy’s American Reinvestment Recovery Act (ARRA) grant to receive $20 million for this project.

Glendale Water & Power employee Brian Hoffman makes the cover of Western Energy Magazine's summer 2011 issue focusing on Smart Grid. Check out the article on page 16!

The property located at 3445 Altura Avenue (previously used as an electrical substation by GWP) will be offered for sale at a public auction on:

• September 6, 2011
• 6:00 pm
• Council Chambers
• 613 East Broadway

The sale of this property will be “as-is, where-is” basis. The successful bidder assumes the risk of the property’s quality and condition absent express warranties, fraud or misrepresentation or the city as seller.

The following information is provided for the convenience of potential bidders. Potential bidders are urged, invited and warned to physically inspect the property as to the condition, description, quality, quantity and exact location, and to conduct such further investigation (as the prospective bidder deems necessary) to evaluate the property prior to submitting bids.

We are currently reviewing our water rate structure and working with Wildan Financial on setting-up a new tiered water rate structure. The public is invited to a study session with City Council and the GWP Commission to discuss the first steps in the proposed structure. We invite you to attend on Tuesday, September 13th, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm, in Council Chambers.

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power’s (GWP) Smart Grid Project received the highest customer score of all smaller utilities and among the highest customer scores for all 93 utilities responding to the Smart Grid Maturity Model (SGMM) Survey facilitated by the California Energy Commission Public Interest Energy Research Division’s project, Defining the Pathway to California’s 2020 Smart Grid for Publicly Owned Utilities.

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power (GWP) received another grant for its continuous work at Glendale’s new Chromium 6 water treatment and testing facilities. Glendale Water & Power received $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation to evaluate two treatment technologies to remove Chromium 6 from local groundwater sources.

The GWP website and online account system will be unavailable Saturday, July 30th between 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Glendale Water & Power is going to have a planned water outage on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The outage will affect a total of 193 dwelling units at the intersection of Campbell & Stocker streets. All customers have been notified of this outage.

Click here for more information.

GLENDALE, California – Decades ago, before Glendale Water & Power provided water to the north Glendale and La Crescenta area, smaller utility districts controlled the water delivery. During that time, a well was drilled near Foothill Boulevard which provided water to the local community. The well was eventually closed and forgotten, and the water districts were absorbed into GWP when the city annexed the area. The site became overgrown with trees and shrubs and an old fence blocked visibility.

Utilities across the nation are installing Smart Meters and moving towards a Smarter Grid for a variety of beneficial reasons. Modernizing our electrical and water infrastructure by integrating new technologies help bring our system into the 21st century in order for us to meet the future needs of our community in a safe, reliable and environmentally responsible way. Knowing the facts is vital to understanding the issues and the benefits. The best way to understand how the Smart Grid helps you is to ask some basic questions.   Learn more ...

Join the leading electric car makers, charging providers and Glendale Water & Power for the latest innovations and trends in the eCar Marketplace at the eCarFest at Cruise Night in Glendale.

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power (GWP) recently mailed the 2011 Water Quality Report to all customers. This is a report containing information on the quality of water delivered to Glendale customers during 2010.

Utility Identifies Two Customers With Tampered Meters

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power working with the Glendale Police Department identified two customers that have been stealing electricity and water by tampering with their house meters. Energy and water theft is a crime and misdemeanor or felony charges maybe filed against these customers and anyone that is found stealing from the utility may be prosecuted.

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power (GWP) reached the 50 percent mark, a milestone, of its installation of its electric and water smart meters. GWP will be the first utility in the nation with a fully operational electric and water advanced metering infrastructure system. Full-scale deployment of smart meter installations started in December 2010 and completion is scheduled for summer 2011. Once the project is completed 120,000 electric and water meters with advanced technology will have the capability to communicate with the utility and customers. Glenn Steiger, GWP General Manager stated “Our Smart Meter deployment is on schedule and we are 50 percent of the way to a Smart Grid system foundation that will provide many benefits to our customers and our utility.”

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power (GWP) hosted the Provincial Electric Authority of Thailand yesterday at Glendale Water & Power’s administrative offices. The Provincial Electric Authority (PEA) is the national utility of Thailand serving 13 million customers. The PEA intends to spend close to $15 billion over the next 15 years to put into action a large scale project to move their utility to a Smart Grid. The reason for their visit to GWP was to learn about a successful Smart meter implementation project.

Governor Jerry Brown officially declared the "end to California's drought" on Wednesday, March 29, 2011. In spite of the abundant rain and snow this last winter however, the water shortage which forced Southern California into mandatory conservation is still not over.

Glenn Steiger to offer insight into engaging with the energy end-use ‘prosumer’

BURLINGTON, Mass. (April 5, 2011) – Glendale Water & Power (GWP) General Manager and CEO, Glenn Steiger will be a featured speaker at KEMA’s fourth annual Utility of the Future Leadership Forum, “Shaping the Future.” Steiger will participate on a panel of industry executives to discuss the role of sophisticated energy consumers—or ‘prosumers’—at the KEMA forum, being held June 6-8, 2011, at The Four Seasons, Denver, Colo.

The GWP website and online account system will be unavailable Saturday, April 2nd, between 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Mayor Ara Najarian has accepted the Wyland Foundation's Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation. We invite the community to bring awareness to preserving our region's water supply by signing a pledge to help conserve water and make cleaner choices at home that will benefit our community and the environment. Residents of the City with the most pledges will win hundreds of tickets to the Los Angeles Angels, Disneyland and the Aquarium of the Pacific. Sign the pledge today!  http://www.mywaterpledge.com

GLENDALE, California – During the week of March 7, 2011, many Glendale Water & Power customers started receiving calls from an 818-548-3301 telephone number requesting payment of their utility bill over the phone with a credit card, or else their power would be disconnected. Unfortunately, these types of fraudulent calls sound very professional and some customers paid these false utility bills by providing a credit card number.

Due to the overwhelming response we received to our increase in the High Efficiency Toilet (HET) rebates, we have exhausted the grant we received that allowed us to increase the rebates. The large response has also stretched our regular HET and Ultra Low Flush Toilet (ULFT) rebate funds. Therefore, at this time, GWP is temporarily closing our HET and ULFT rebate programs. If you have questions, please contact our rebate line at 1-866-557-1411.

Glendale Water & Power customers are receiving calls from 818-548-3301 or the Glendale Community Hotline asking them to pay a balance they owe over the phone with a credit card immediately or their power will be shut off by the end of the day. The people calling are stating they work for GWP and their names are Linda James or Michelle Williams, they also mention the customers GWP account number.

We invite you to join Glendale Water& Power for coffee and refreshments at a park near you! We look forward to talking with you about our Smart Grid project, water conservation, energy efficiency and Public Benefit Programs.

With Brad Lancaster, Rainwater Harvesting Consultant and Author
Saturday March 12, 2011
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Salvation Army Pasadena Tabernacle
960 E. Walnut St., Pasadena CA 91106

Space is limited.  Reserve your place at www.PasadenaSavesWater.com
For questions, email Jennifer Hao or at 626.744.7926

GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power’s new installation of smart meters has many benefits to customers, one being the identification of water leaks on private property. Recently, two water leaks were quickly discovered -- one at a multi-family apartment complex which was losing about 250 gallons of water per hour, and the second one at a commercial property that was losing about 450 gallons per hour. Neither property owner was aware of these leaks until their new Smart Water meters were installed and raised an alert.

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GLENDALE, California – Glendale Water & Power’s General Manager, Glenn Steiger has been named one of 11 top "Movers and Shakers of the Electric Utility Industry" by Intelligent Utility Magazine.

After the unusually large amount of rain and snow Southern California received during the last two months, it is sometimes difficult to remember that dry years are not a phenomenon in California, they are actually the norm, and periodically come in pairs, or threes, or fours. Of necessity, the wise use of water here in Southern California must become a "way of life". Because of this, more and more water customers are becoming interested in converting their water guzzling landscapes to low-water-use gardens.

Glendale, California – Glendale Water & Power’s (GWP) two new chromium 6 water treatment and testing facilities have been completed and operational for the past year. Glendale Water & Power recently received a check from the State of California for $1.9M, reimbursing the City for the expenses incurred in the chromium 6 removal research efforts.