CA is short with options to limit its consumption cost of electricity

From And WaltersCalmness

This comment was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

If and when Gavin Newsom launches a presidential campaignThe economic and social conditions in California, which he manages for two terms, will be in the spotlight.

While Newsom boasts constantly about the state and its achievements, its chronic problems such as High level of homelessnessare obvious to everyone. Political media and his rivals will focus on them with laser intensity.

Given the dynamics of last year’s presidential competition, in which the worries about increasing life costs played a role in the loss of California Kamala Harris of Donald Trump, California itself Housing And other basic living needs will be forage for attacks against Newsom in 2028.

NEWSOM is trying to isolate it, as far as possible, from such criticism. For example, he Signed legislation aimed at increasing housing production And he ordered his administration to interfere with the cities that impeded construction.

Last October, just a few days before Harris lost, Newsom ordered the California Commission for Utilities, Air Resources Council and the State Energy Committee to Generate ideas about how high energy costsEspecially electricity can be softened.

“We are taking action to deal with the increasing cost of electricity and saving money for consumers of their accounts,” Newsom said at the time. “California proves that we can deal with accessibility problems as we continue our leading efforts to combat the climate crisis.”

California rates for residential and commercial electricity are the highest in the lower 48 states in the country, according to a Monthly compilation From the California Center for Jobs and the Economy, an addition to the California Business Round Table. The actual accounts of the Californians are the ninth highest due to the relatively light climate of the state, established in the report.

Energy bills hit low -income families, especially heavy, especially those who live in internal communities, where summer temperatures easily pass 100 degrees, which requires wide use of air conditioning. This week, a report The California Public Policy Institute confirmed this observation.

“Increasing the cost of electricity in California over the last decade has largely outstripped the increasing income for low and medium -income families,” writes PPIC Tess Torman, Patricia Malagon and Paulet Cha. “Just before the pandemic, the income began to catch up on low-income households, but the high weight of electricity bills jumped between 2019 and 2021 for everyone.

“Geography also plays an important role, emphasized in the efforts of the California Committee in California to monitor the accessibility of utility accounts. Electricity is the least accessible to households in the hotlands -specifically in parts of the internal empire, the San Hoaquin Valley and the northern region of the state.”

The CPUC and the Energy Committee responded to the Newsom order in February, but did not offer much on the path of effective steps to reduce utility bills. Thehe CPUC noted The fact that there are existing programs to help families with low-incomes to deal with electricity accounts, funded mainly by the total revenue of utilities and suggested that they be increased by non-paid money as budget loans.

He also determined the fact that homeowners who install solar panels on their roofs tend to have high incomes, but do not contribute much to maintaining the electrical grid – a problem that has been kicking around Capitol for years. This year the legislation that would have Hit the owners of solar panels in the wallet., Assembly Bill 942It was soaked to a little more than a sign after a fierce lobbying battle.

Thehe Energy Commission Report As for power costs, they were even thinner, mostly tapping on the back to accept appliances for appliances and other power uses that reduce their requirements.

The bottom line is that the Californians’ power costs are very high, it can increase even higher, as utility services are pressed to reduce the danger of wild fires and there are valuable small nuances and lawmakers can do it as they face chronic deficiency.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.