Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Kettleman City, CA

Tesla’s planned expansion of the Kettleman City Supercharger in California is evidently underway. The expansion will bring 56 additional V3 Supercharger stalls to the Kettleman City station, bringing the grand total to 96, supplementing the 40-already existing chargers at the site.

Tesla’s Kettleman City Supercharger is one of the most popular in the world. The site not only has 40 Superchargers, some of which already have V3 capabilities allowing for 250kW charging rates, but also a 24-hour customer lounge with restrooms and a gift shop.

Tesla initially filed to expand the Kettleman City Supercharging station in late May 2021. Since the location is one of the most popular and also located near Tesla’s Fremont factory, where the company’s vehicles are produced, Tesla owners visit the site frequently to recharge their all-electric vehicles. However, 40 Supercharging stalls just did not seem to be doing the job, so Tesla filed to expand the site, and the construction is underway.

New photos from Tesla Motors Club forum member ElectricCyclist, who took several photographs of the ongoing progress of Kettleman City’s expansion. As seen in the pictures, the Superchargers are already placed. The next portion of the project appears to be excavation, asphalt, and line painting. It seems all of the relevant electrical work is already completed, so Tesla may be able to open the site before the end of the year if all goes well.

Kettleman City will be among the largest Supercharger stations in the world. The largest will be in Harris Ranch, California, with 100 stalls. There is also a massive 72-stall station in Shanghai and a 56-stall location in Firebaugh, California.

Tesla has had a plan to expand its footprint of V3 Superchargers for some time. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has even hinted that it will upgrade the V3 Superchargers to equip charging speeds of up to 300kW, which would give owners incredibly fast charging speeds. 250kW charge rates allow for up to 1,000 miles per hour of charging time.

Tesla currently has over 25,000 active Supercharger locations worldwide, with plenty more on the way. However, more charging options may be available in the coming years as evidence of an aggressive expansion has been noted on several occasions recently. In China, Tesla launched a dedicated V3 Supercharger production facility that would accelerate the rollout of the company’s fastest Superchargers as the Chinese market continues to adopt EVs.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with tips! Email us at tips@teslarati.com, or you can email me directly at joey@teslarati.com.

A new truck stop, retail center and industrial hub off Interstate 5 aims to bring development to an oft-forgotten portion of Kings County. Developers and county officials alike hope to bring 1,600 industrial and retail jobs, relieve congestion headed to the Central Coast and provide water to a disadvantaged community.

Kings County Supervisors approved the 415-acre Jackson Ranch Specific Plan in January at Utica Avenue and I-5, four miles from Kettleman City.

The Jackson Ranch project will bring two gas stations, a truck stop, two hotels, two restaurant pads, three retail pads and three fast food pads, according to a site plan overview submitted by developer Utica J.L.J. LLC. They are currently in escrow with the gas stations and truck stop, according to Jon Lash with Utica J.L.J. Based out of Southern California, Utica J.L.J. is made up of Lash, Larry Bross and John Markley.

Design for the project is a nod to agriculture in the area with decorative silos, barns and wells throughout the shopping center. Designs outline buildings in a “modern farmhouse” style.

The project would also develop 113 acres for industrial uses —including logistics centers.

Lash estimates they will break ground this summer with a grand opening in Q4 of 2022.

Driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Lash had seen the potential for business growth along I-5. He recognized a need for retail as well as space to accommodate the movement of goods. Covid has only exacerbated the need for logistical space, Lash says.

The original plan was to start with the gas stations, truck stop, hotels and restaurants, with the second industrial phase coming online after that. But the significant demand for industrial and logistics lead them to develop concurrently, Lash said. Considering the interest in the area, Lash anticipates a lot of the buildings will be build-to-suit.

Utica J.L.J. is using Cushman and Wakefield as brokers for the industrial development and Avenue Realty Group as brokers for the retail development.

One obstacle to development in western Kings County has been workforce.

Nearby Kettleman City itself has a population of just over 1,100 people.

Labor for the restaurants, gas stations as well as Bravo Farms often comes from Avenal, Lemoore and Corcoran, according to Greg Gatzka, Kings County Community Development Agency Director.

The county worked with developers to provide labor for businesses.

Many workers utilize a State vanpool program called CalVans to get to work.

An affordable housing element in Corcoran also has a need for jobs, Gatzka said.

A labor study done for the project estimated that workers would be willing to drive between 45 to 60 minutes to work at Jackson Ranch.

This would include workers from Hanford and Lemoore.

Lash personally feels that the quality of jobs could attract workers from an even bigger radius, perhaps 60-75 minutes away from the site.

The project would also reduce congestion at Kettleman City, county officials surmise.

Trucks traveling via I-5 often have to pull into Kettleman City to rest or refuel. The Jackson Ranch project would allow them to stay on the interstate.

“Kings County does not have a major truck stop,” said Greg Gatzka, Kings County Community Development Agency Director. “This is a large investment to help long-hauling trucks with an easy on-and-off ramp to help avoid coastal [Highway] 41 traffic.”

One of the hurdles for developers is the lack of infrastructure. The 415 total acres of the project are currently farmland and don’t have electrical, sewer, water or drainage, according to Gatzka. Even more of a challenge will be bringing natural gas. The only natural gas line is on the other side of I-5. Running gas line across the thoroughfare will require cooperation from Pacific Gas & Electric.

The project’s need for clean water will also mean clean water for nearby Kettleman City. The community has long relied on groundwater with dangerous levels of arsenic and benzene — though a wastewater treatment plant installed last year has helped abate the level of contaminates.

Rights for the project grant 140 acre-feet of water yearly to Jackson Ranch. Water would be run through the Kettleman City wastewater treatment facility with an unused portion going back to citizens there.

At full build-out, the Jackson Ranch project will only require 35-40 acre-feet of water, Gatzka estimated.

This would give them ability to send excess to the community.

A second phase for Jackson Ranch has 211 acres reserved for ag uses. This may mean nut or fruit trees, said Lash, but it could also be used for agritourism.

Bravo Farms in Kettleman City features a cellar of premier wines from over the hill in Paso Robles. Richard Valle, Kings County supervisor, hopes to include tasting rooms and farmers markets to showcase local ag.

Another 56 acres is zoned for an airstrip overlay. Lash says there has been interest in creating an airstrip in the area, but nothing is finalized.

Valle calls the west side of Kings County “underutilized.”

“This is a prime opportunity to bring jobs and sales tax [revenue],” Valle said.

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

(KSEE/KGPE) — For more than a century the former lakebed of Tulare Lake has been turned into farmland in California’s Central Valley.

The footprint of the lake, when full, could reach 690 square miles, stretching from Kettleman City east to Corcoran and north to Lemoore.

It was considered the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi.

This lake was home to a wide variety of wildlife but also served as a waypoint for Native Americans, Spanish missionaries and Mexican nationals for centuries.

As the newly formed state of California began to grow in the 1850s, increased farming in the southern San Joaquin Valley would drain the waters of Tulare Lake.

In 1879, the Kaweah, Kern, Kings and Tule Rivers were damned, leaving the lake nearly dry by the early 1900s.

The nail in the coffin would come when Pine Flat Dam was completed in 1954, holding back the waters of the Kings River.

However, flood waters have occasionally recharged the lake several times in recent decades. In 1938, 1955, 1969, 1983 and 1997, unusually high levels of rainfall and snowmelt would replenish the lake, which sometimes reached 100 square miles of the surface.

Early 2023 has also had unusually high levels of rainfall and snowmelt.

Rainfall and Snowmelt threaten to overload Pine Flat Dam

2.6 million-acre feet of water is expected to pass through Pine Flat Dam, and the dam can only hold about 1 million acre-feet. Normally, the water goes North to the San Joaquin River, but there’s so much water there now, that the water has to be released to the Kings River too.

“The Kings River has been flowing high now for the last two to three weeks with all of the storms we’ve been having,” said Randy McFarland, a consultant for the Kings River Water Association.

“We haven’t had a big water year like this since ’82, ’83, and this one has the potential to be the biggest water year ever recorded or observed in modern history,” McFarland said.

McFarland is part of the team overseeing water going from Kings River into the Tulare Lake Canal, where the water will get distributed to farmland or evaporate over time.

“It gives you some idea, we’re talking about a lot of water,” McFarland said. “So, the corps has to make room for it and that’s what flood releases are for, and that’s what’s happening right now,” said McFarland.

After the water is released from the dam, it makes its way here South of Stratford on Highway 41, where it splits into three ways, the Blakeley Canal, the Kings River, and the Tulare Lake Canal.

The river is already on the rise. At the Kingsburg Golf Course, the water is already making its way into the parking lot.

“Anybody who has property along the Kings River or lives very close to the river absolutely has to be cognizant of the danger,” McFarland said.

McFarland believes the river could rise another five feet with flood water releases. He says putting water into the old lakebed isn’t new, they’ve done it before when there is too much water and nowhere for it to go.

The Kings County Board of Supervisors approved a transfer of $6 million from the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) on Tuesday for the construction of the Kettleman City pedestrian bridge. Despite having no impact on the county’s general fund, Supervisors Rusty Robinson and Doug Verboon opposed the transfer proposal.

The Kettleman City pedestrian bridge is a project aimed to serve an area of Kettleman’s residential district that is bisected by State Route 41. The project will consist of a bridge that spans over SR41 and allows for foot access to amenities like the post office, community center and park.

Supervisor Robinson, who has stood firm in his opposition to the project since acquiring his seat on the dais, continued to proclaim his opposition to the project on Tuesday morning, saying that it is reckless spending on projects such as this which is leading the state into financial deficit. He stated that there are cheaper options that serve the same purposes and that he believes the bridge would be “too much for too few.”

With a 3-2 vote, the transfer of $6 million from CalTrans was approved.

While the pedestrian bridge project did not have the board’s full support, the remodeling plans for Kings County Fire Station No. 5 did have the board’s unanimous approval.

After the High Speed Rail created the need for the relocation of Fire Station No. 4, the High Speed Rail Authority provided funding for the relocation. Part of the funding provided will be used to remodel Fire Station No. 5 in order to expand the living quarters, improve the parking lot and expand the garage space to station a ladder fire truck.

DKJ Architects Inc. was determined to be best fit for the construction and is ready to get the $2.7 million project underway. The remodel is projected to take 180 calendar days to complete.

The signalization project of 17th Avenue and Houston Avenue also received unanimous support as the board approved the appraisal summaries for three of the surrounding properties that will require right-of-way acquisitions.

The properties that will require acquisition are located on Houston Avenue and are all used as residential homesites. The appraisal summaries will cost the county a little over $40,000 but will allow for purchase agreements to be brought forward once property acquisitions are negotiated with the property owners.

IN OTHER BOARD NEWS

The Kings County Sheriff’s Office was approved to contract with Island Union Elementary School District for school resource officer services for the 2023-2024 school year. The Sheriff’s Office also received a $54,732 grant from the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control for their participation in a minor decoy program focused on catching stores that sell alcohol to minors.

Behavioral Health Deputy Director Christi Lupkes received the board’s approval to accept a $25,000 stipend from Health Management Associates Incorporated for the Medication Assisted Treatment Expansion program. The program uses a combination of medications, counseling and other therapies to treat those in jails and drug courts who have a substance use disorder. The stipend will be distributed retroactively from April 1 to June 30, 2025.

From fallow fields of southwestern Kings County, the electricity generated by a new solar project is flowing northward to power the Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto.

The Kettleman Solar Power Project, built on about 264 acres of land along Highway 41 several miles north of Kettleman City, began producing electricity on a commercial basis on Aug. 14, said Chris Harris, project manager for Clenera LLC.

Clenera LLC developed and operates the 20-megawatt plant for the project owner, EE Kettleman Land LLC. It includes about 87,000 solar photovoltaic panels, mounted on racks that maximize the power potential by tracking the sun’s movement throughout the day.

Kettleman Photovoltaic Solar Project

This map was made with Google My Maps. Create your own.

This map was created by a user. Learn how to create your own.

In planning documents presented during Kings County’s approval process, consultants reported that “the communities served by this solar facility include Stratford, Lemoore and Hanford,” adding that “the greater Kings County area will also benefit from the solar farm since the project represents a clean, renewable source of electrical energy that will supplement current power requirements for the entire region.”

But under a 25-year power purchase agreement with EE Kettleman Land, the city of Palo Alto – on the San Francisco Peninsula north of San Jose – is buying all of the electricity generated by the plant, with an additional five-year option. The contract locks in a rate of $77 per megawatt hour, and the plant is expected to produce 53,454 megawatt hours of electricity in its first year of operation. Jim Stack, a senior resource planner for the city, said that translates to about 5.5% of the city’s total residential, commercial and industrial electricity demand, or enough to power about 6,000 homes.

Palo Alto serves as its own utility provider, from water, sewer and storm drain services to natural gas, electricity and fiber optics. Its investment in the Kettleman project is the first of five, totaling 125 megawatts of capacity, to come online.

All five are expected to be in production by the end of 2016, together generating about one-third of the city’s annual electricity needs. The solar-power agreements are part of the city’s effort to purchase all of its electricity from carbon-neutral sources and meet its climate-protection targets.

“With the addition of this large-scale solar power plant to our energy-supply portfolio, Palo Alto is well on its way toward achieving its incredibly ambitious renewable energy and sustainability goals,” said Valerie Fong, the city’s utilities director.

Sandy Roper, principal planner with Kings County’s planning division, said the county’s approval of conditional-use permits governing the use of the land has nothing to do with where electricity generated by the plant is sold.

The Kettleman plant is the latest of eight utility-scale solar plants to be completed in recent years in Kings County. Together, they represent a generating capacity of about 148 megawatts of electricity.

Eleven more large-scale plants have been approved by the California Public Utilities Commission with the potential to produce nearly 566 megawatts of power if they are all completed.

That’s in addition to a smattering of small projects and doesn’t count a growing number of residential rooftop solar systems being installed in the region.

This story was originally published September 1, 2015, 1:00 AM.