April 26,2018-
– U.S. auto sales in April likely fell nearly 8 percent from the same month in 2017 despite big discounts for consumers, industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said on Thursday according to Reuters.
LAX statistics show passenger traffic for February was up nearly 8% year over year with international travelers up almost 10%.
Libor: Short term interest rates continue to jump as measured by Libor this week. The three-month Libor rate stands at 2.36 % – more than double a year ago the -1.17%. The London-based benchmark index affects $350 trillion in consumer and business loans.
Mortgage rates this week are creeping toward 5%, at 4.87 APR for new purchases and 4.93 APR for refinance through Wells Fargo for a conventional 30-year loan.
New Kaweah Delta board member: David M. Francis, who is a retired Superintendent of Santa Maria-Bonita School District and has been a Visalia resident since 1969, was appointed to the vacant Zone 4 position on March 22 during a special board meeting. He was sworn in March 26. He replaces Carl Anderson. Francis will serve through December 7, 2018 and will run for election in November to fill the four-year term.
– Tulare To Get State Loan For Solar Farm: The California Energy Commission (CEC) is offering the City of Tulare a $3 million loan at 1 percent interest to install a single-axis photovoltaic system totaling 2.41MW at its wastewater treatment plant.
However it is not clear the city will accept the money with a split in opinion over the issue. In the past some members of the Board of Public Utilities have argued the city “should get out of energy business” even though investing in renewables appears to save money.
In this case the CEC estimates the city will get its money back in 6.7 years even though the solar panels last for over 17 years.
The project has been in the works for years yer and was recently given the green light by a city manger who now is gone.Combined with the existing 1 megawatt solar facility (already installed at the WWTP), the project capacity is right-sized near perfectly to the City’s total electrical demand of 3.41 megawatts citywide.
Tulare already has a 1 MW solar farm at their wastewater treatment plant.
An analysis of the potential savings of the solar farm says it could total city savings of $10.4 million over the 20 year term of the CEC loan agreement. It would require about 20 acres.
The city council is expected to make a decision soon.