Traveling to the Coast this weekend? Consider filling up in Kings County
Heading to the Central Coast this weekend for Memorial Day? You might want to fill your gas tank in Kings County where you could pay as low as $5.19 a gallon- more than a dollar cheaper per gallon than the average price in nearby San Luis Obispo County. Your Morro Bay Chevron is asking more -$6.68.
According to GasBuddy, Kings County offers some of the lowest prices in the state, likely due to the level of competition in Lemoore and Hanford. Not only does Costco have an impact on the price level in Kings -Lemoore’s Yokut Gas is often the cheapest in the area at $5.19 bringing all the other local discount brands like Fastrip and Sinclair’s prices down with them. So this county’s average price is always more competitive than the California average and a bargain compared to San Luis Obispo -one of the highest counties for gas prices in the state.
Gas prices have ramped up since the first of the year following oil prices up.WTI oil was $48 a barrel as of January 1 and $109 today thanks to the Ukraine/ Russia war. Sky high diesel prices are rippling through the economy making everything a farmer grows and stuff trucks deliver inflationary. California diesel today is a record price of $6.58. This week the White House is said to be weighing an emergency declaration to release diesel from a stockpile in a bid to address the supply crunch and blunt rising prices. Rising diesel prices are driving up inflation now at a 40-year high.
Nearly one third of California car sales electric/hybrid
The California New Car Dealers report that nearly one third of all cars sold in the first quarter of this year were electric or hybrid powered. Some 28.3 percent of the new registrations were in this category year to date. Electric cars jumped to 14.6% so far this year from 9.5% in 2021.The trend follows record gas prices in California as drivers seek to ease pain at the pump. But the inventory of electric and hybrid cars remains an issue. All cars remain in short supply. Cox Automotive reports the supply of all new vehicles at the end of April was down 40% from the same period a year earlier to 1.13 million unsold cars and trucks. That’s about 800,000 vehicles below supply in April 2021 and 2.2 million below 2020.
Electric and hybrid sales along with higher fuel mileage gas vehicles sold is reducing the volume of gasoline sold in the state. As of Feb 2022 we are burning about 14% less gas than we did in Feb 2018, Energy Information Agency figures show. If demand is down, the sellers have clearly figured out a way to keep the money flowing in.
HSR seeks $1.3 billion in federal monies
The California High-Speed Rail Authority has submitted two applications totaling nearly $1.3 billion in federal grant funding for the nation’s first high-speed rail project. The applications are the first major push for a continued federal partnership under the newly enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by President Biden in November, 2021.Funds would sustain local construction.
The two applications include funding for:
• Constructing the second track for the initial operating segment between Merced and Bakersfield, beginning with the two tracks on the first 119 miles currently being built in the Central Valley.
• Advancing design work for the extensions to Merced and Bakersfield.
• Station development in Fresno and Kings/Tulare.
• Purchasing six fully electric train sets capable of speeds in excess of 200 mph.
• Advancing the next phase of design for two segments into the Bay Area (Merced to San Jose and San Jose to San Francisco) and into Southern California (Bakersfield to Palmdale and Burbank to Los Angeles).
Kings jobless rate near record low
Kings County jobless rate was down to 6.6% in April – near a record low. Historically, unemployment in Kings County reached a record high of 20% in January of 1993 and a record low of 6.1% in September of 2018. Both farm and non-farm jobs were up year over year last month.
Westland Solar Park-next in line is Cherry Solar project
Sprawling Westland Solar Park continues to build new solar farms in western Kings County,often named after commodities. Next in line is Cherry Solar project – another 250MW solar development located on poor ag land near Nevada Ave. The developer is applying for a conditional use permit through the Planning Commission.The project will likely have a a battery storage component as well.Solar projects now cover much of the road trip to Avenal from 198.
Speaking of battery storage, Kings County has bragging rights now hosting the largest combined solar /storage unit in the US. Slate Solar combines a 300MW PV system with 140MW of lithium-ion batteries designed to discharge for up to four hours. The combo was the largest hybrid project among more than a dozen added to the US electric grid this year through March, says a report. It is owned by an affiliate of Goldman Sachs.
US developers plan to bring online 5.3GW of battery power capacity at new and existing generation plants in 2022, nearly twice as much as last year, while another 4.9GW of stand-alone additions are planned, according to latest data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The growth of solar-battery hybrids is driven by federal tax credits that apply to energy storage when charging on PV, comparatively low contract prices, construction cost savings for combined assets, and the need for flexible generation.
Glass House takes over Lemoore pot dispensary
This week the Lemoore City Council approved the transfer of ownership of Natural Healing Center, LLC to a Santa Barbara company – Glass House. Natural Healing Center sold several of their cannabis dispensaries including in Morro Bay and Turlock which has yet to open, along with Lemoore. The deal was said to be worth more than $22.6 million.
NHC has generated three quarters of a million dollars in taxes to the city since it opened.
Publicly-traded Glass House is said to be one of the fastest growing, vertically integrated cannabis companies in the U.S. But the company reported Net Sales decreased 8% to $14.0 million from $15.2 million in Q1 2021 and declined 24% sequentially from $18.4 million in Q4 2021.
The company CEO says “We are approaching one year since the steep decline in prices began, and the cumulative effect of low prices over the past 8-9 months is creating real distress for many operators.”
Natural Healing Center founder Helios Raphael Dayspring, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to federal charges of bribing a former San Luis Obispo County supervisor and not reporting millions of dollars of income to the Internal Revenue Service. As a result the company lost a permit to open in the City of San Luis Obispo and a building they owned is for sale, listed for $9 million.The cannabis retailer intended to open a storefront on Broad Street, but the city terminated its permit last October. The listing claims it is an “Extremely rare opportunity to own a fully entitled turnkey Retail Cannabis Location.”