Nasdaq OKs Faraday Future plan to regain listing
Faraday Future announced that the Nasdaq Stock Market has accepted the company’s plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250, which permits the continued listing of FF common stock and warrants on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Nasdaq has granted the company an extension until May 6, 2022 to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The extension also covers the company’s Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Faraday Future received a letter from Nasdaq on November 17, 2021 stating that the company was not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule because it had not timely filed its Q3 Form 10-Q with the SEC.
On February 1, 2022, the Company announced the completion of the Special Committee investigation of charges that the company misled investors. Since then, the company has been continuing to implement the remedial actions approved by the Special Committee and undertaking additional investigative and remedial work based on the results of the Special Committee investigation.
Valley counties lose holiday jobs in January
The unemployment rate in Kings County was 8.9 percent in January 2022, up from a revised 7.5 percent in December 2021, and below the year-ago estimate of 11.3 percent. Kings, like nearby Fresno County, lost many seasonal jobs filled during the holidays including those in retail and leisure service. In Fresno trade, transportation, and utilities recorded the largest month-over decline with a loss of 1,600 jobs following the holiday season. Retail trade (down 1,000 jobs) accounted for approximately 63 percent of the job loss in this sector. Leisure and hospitality experienced a decrease of 1,400 jobs. and construction lost hundreds of jobs as well.
Home sales down here but median up
In Kings County the median price of home climbed to $327,000 in February ,compared to $322,00 in January and $280,00 in February 2021. Sales fell 13.6% month over month but the median prices up 12.8% from a year earlier.
PG&E, Ford and GM co-develop bidirectional electric vehicle charging technology for at-home use
Pacific Gas and Electric Company,Ford and GM announced they will collaborate to see how the directional charging technology on electric vehicles,like the Ford F-150 can be used as on-demand power sources for homes in PG&E’s service area.
The F-150 Lightning will play a critical role in this investigation due to its role as the first commercially available light-duty truck to possess bidirectional capabilities through its Intelligent Backup Power. By the companies’ estimates, the truck could offer backup supply for customers’ homes in PG&E’s service area for up to 10 days during outages, depending on home energy usage.
“We are really excited about this innovative collaboration with GM. Imagine a future where everyone is driving an electric vehicle—and where that EV serves as a backup power option at home and more broadly as a resource for the grid. Not only is this a huge advancement for electric reliability and climate resiliency, it’s yet another advantage of clean-powered EVs, which are so important in our collective battle against climate change,” said PG&E Corporation CEO Patti Poppe.By the end of 2025, GM will have more than 1 million units of EV capacity in North America to respond to growing demand.
Freeze hits Valley almonds
A late February freeze hit much of the Valleys almond growing region just as bloom was underway although it appears north counties may have been hit the hardest. Kings County has some 33,000 acres of almonds while neighbors Kern and Fresno counties have some 160,000 acres each. Almond trees at full bloom are especially sensitive to freezing temperatures at or below 28 ℉. Yield could be affected, but the extent of damage may not be observed right away.
Kings Ag Commissioner Jimmy Hook says “it looks like we dodged a bullet” on the event in our area though there are some reports of damage.Others are not so lucky.
The state’s almond industry is valued at around $5 billion.A note by Brian Noeller, regional manager of member relations for Blue Diamond Growers, stated the northern region of California almond country sustained the heaviest damage, with some farmers reporting “almost total losses in colder areas.”
“With almonds being the first flowering crop and extremely susceptible to frost, we are deeply concerned for our grower-owners and all California farmers who are affected by these freeze conditions,” said Mark Jansen, President and CEO of Blue Diamond Growers.
One report estimates damage.Rich Kreps, a crop consultant with Ultra Gro Plant Food, said he knows of areas in Delano, east of Madera, and Cantua Creek in western Fresno County that were hit particularly hard with freezing temperatures that lingered for several hours.
After visiting farms in Madera County, Kreps said younger orchards – those 3-7 years old – appeared to fare worse than older orchards, particularly older ones that still had access to flood irrigation, which can give farmers the greatest protection against freezing temperatures when used effectively.
Some counties may declare a disaster due to the freeze.
Almond growers learned that shipments of almonds for export through February year to date are down 21%.
Solar on the farm – SGMA impact
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 8% of California farms have an on-site renewable-energy system.
California Farm Bureau reports that Aaron Barcellos, who farms row crops and trees in Merced and Fresno counties, took advantage of federal tax incentives and invested in constructing two solar systems that total 1.4 megawatts to offset the farm’s energy usage.
“Most farmers, if they’ve got a drip system with an electric pump on it, are probably spending between $80 and $120 an acre per year at least on just their energy costs, depending on the crop and how much water they’re delivering,” Barcellos explained. “On-farm energy use is definitely a big deal. It’s one of those line items in the budget that we always check on.”
With the ongoing drought and a regulation that requires local agencies to balance groundwater supplies under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, more farmers see renewable energy as a source of income, especially with farmland expected to go out of production.
“Right now, agriculture has a huge role to play, especially with SGMA,” Barcellos said. “We know we’re going to be retiring lands that don’t have enough water, and there’s lots of interest in solar for those.”
Arian Aghajanzadeh, an agriculture technology expert who founded Klimate Consulting in San Francisco, said farmers have a unique role to play in California’s energy future.
“Agriculture and land use is the only sector of the economy that can transition from becoming a major source of carbon emissions to becoming a major carbon sink” in reducing emissions, Aghajanzadeh said. “No other sector can achieve this.”
WSJ- Ports improve container shipments
Wall Street Journal reports that” containers are moving faster through Southern California’s beleaguered port complex, leaving companies wondering if they’ve turned a corner. The backup of container ships waiting for a berth dipped last weekend to the lowest level since September, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes, and a trip through one of the Port of Los Angeles’s big terminals suggests that cargoes are flowing more smoothly than they have in a long time. That may be largely because Los Angeles and the neighboring Long Beach port are catching their breath during the seasonal lull around the Lunar New Year.”