OROVILLE – PG&E volunteers worked side-by-side with third-graders at Helen M. Wilcox Elementary School today planting trees to replace the ones taken out by vandals last weekend. The utility donated five maple trees in 15-gallon pots to the school after hearing that some of its trees were knocked down and uprooted by vandals. A local nursery donated two more trees. Employees from PG&E's vegetation management division and other departments pitched in to replant the trees at the K-3 school as the nation celebrated National Arbor Day. Oroville mayor Linda Dahlmeyer joined PG&E and the students at the event. "The community's response to our loss of trees has been wonderful and all the support has really lifted the kids’ spirits," said Heather Scott, principal of Helen Wilcox Elementary School. "PG&E's response was fantastic and we at Helen Wilcox Elementary greatly appreciate the trees and the help to plant them."

Currents: National Arbor Day: PG&E Replaces Vandalized Tree in Oroville, Provide

Utilities of all sizes have various smart grid projects underway, whether installing two-way digital smart meters, deploying self-healing distribution technology or integrating data across the business operation. And then there are a handful of utilities that are doing all of these things. In a new report, Utility Smart Grid Outlook in North America 2013: Technologies, Strategies & Case Studies, Emma Ritch, a senior smart grid analyst with GTM Research, ranks 40 utilities that serve one-third of U.S. electricity customers, based on their current adoption of smart grid technologies. CenterPoint Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric are tied for the top position with an overall average ranking of 4.2 out of a total five possible points, ranging from one for "exploratory" to five for" optimized" within five different categories. "Mid-size and large utilities dominated the list of those with the highest ratings in smart grid maturity, but there were also a few standouts with about 50,000 electric customers," Ritch said.

Green Tech Media: Utilities Have Far to Go in Smart Grid Maturity

County Code Enforcement has given has given PG&E permission to remove five "hazardous" Monterey pine trees in Cambria as part of the utility's periodic "reliability program" of trimming and removing vegetation that could interrupt electrical service and pose a hazard to people and property. However, Mother Nature has already taken care of one of those trees on a vacant Pineridge Drive lot near Ellis Avenue and Bradford Road. On April 15, high winds toppled the tree, which fell across Pineridge. The resulting outage lasted about an hour for 754 customers, but 79 of those were out of electricity for about 10 hours. Another tree to be removed under the reliability program remains standing - for now - on the same lot. The reliability project also includes trimming, due to start next week on another 11 trees, many of them in the Top of the World neighborhood of Lodge Hill. They include pines on Pineridge, Burton, Berwick, Pierce, Spencer Street, Orville Avenue, and a Monterey cypress on London Lane, near Green Street.

The Cambrian: PG&E Gets OK to Cut Pines