Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

1 day ago

Fresno Suspect Caught After Jumping Out of Second-Floor Window, 2 Others Arrested

2 days ago

Tesla Has Applied to Arizona for Robotaxi Service Certification, State Transport Department Says

2 days ago

Evacuations Ongoing as San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Scorches Tens of Thousands of Acres

2 days ago

US Senate to Vote on Trump Aid, Broadcasting Cuts as Deadline Looms

2 days ago

US Health Department Widens Immigrant Benefit Restrictions

2 days ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Stabbing That Left Man Critically Injured

2 days ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Next of Kin for North Fork Man

2 days ago

Froot Loops Maker WK Kellogg Agrees to $3.1 Billion Deal From Italy’s Ferrero

2 days ago

China Signals Willingness to Sell Fighter Jets as Iran Eyes J-10 Aircraft

2 days ago
CA Will Tap Ratepayers to Jumpstart Offshore Wind Industry
By admin
Published 2 years ago on
September 15, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

SACRAMENTO — The California Legislature voted Thursday to give Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration permission to buy massive amounts of electricity, a move aimed at avoiding blackouts by shoring up the state’s power supply while jumpstarting the West Coast’s fledgling offshore wind industry.

And the money would come from a surcharge imposed on Californians’ electricity bills. State regulators would decide how much this charge would be. Consumers would not pay it until the wind projects are up and running, likely several years from now.

California already has among the highest electricity rates in the country.

“This legislation … means that every single ratepayer in California, no matter where you live, is going to pay for this,” said Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle, who opposes the bill.

Five companies paid roughly $750 million last year to lease areas off the California coast to build wind turbines. Collectively, those projects could generate enough electricity to power 3.5 million homes, helping the state avoid blackouts during extreme heat waves that have routinely strained the electrical grid of the nation’s most populous state.

But so far, the state’s largest utility companies have not been willing to commit to buying power from projects like those because it would cost too much money and take too long to build. In addition to building the wind turbines, the projects will require improvements at the state’s ports and new power lines to transport the energy from the ocean to the land.

“This is a major, generational series of investments that need to happen, and there’s a real risk it won’t if we can’t provide more certainty,” said Alex Jackson, director of American Clean Power Association, which represents the companies trying to build the wind projects.

Will It Save Ratepayers Money in the Long Run?

Supporters argue the bill will save people money in the long run on their electric bills. California has a law requiring all of its electricity to come from renewable or non-carbon sources by 2045. To do that, supporters say the state will have to invest in offshore wind projects, which typically generate the most power at night when solar energy is not as abundant.

Supporters say it would be more efficient for these offshore wind projects to sell all of their electricity to the state instead of selling pieces of it to multiple utility companies, helping to control costs and keep rates lower.

“The biggest threat to us meeting our climate goals between now and 2045 are rate impacts to ratepayers,” Scott Wetch, a lobbyist representing various construction trade associations, told lawmakers in a recent public hearing. “(This bill) is the only way to bring down those costs on these large, complex, long lead time projects in order to minimize the rate impacts.”

The bill gives the Department of Water Resources the authority to purchase the power — but not forever. Their authority would expire in 2035. Lawmakers would have to vote again to extend it.

California Struggles to Meet Clean Energy Goals

California has moved quickly to end its reliance on fossil fuels in recent years. State regulators have OK’d rules banning the sale of most new gas-powered cars by 2035. But the state has struggled to maintain its clean energy values amid that transition.

An extreme heat wave in 2020 overwhelmed the state’s power grid, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes in the dark for a few hours over two days. Similar heat waves in the following summers prompted regulators to ask consumers to use less energy when demand was at its peak in the early evenings.

Newsom and the state Legislature have since spent $3.3 billion to build a “strategic reliability reserve” that included purchasing diesel-powered generators and extending the life of some gas-fired power plants that were scheduled to retire.

“There are things happening right now in energy policy that give me some pause about the efficacy of our strategy,” Democratic state Sen. Henry Stern lamented during a public hearing on the bill last week.

State law requires utility companies to have enough energy to meet demand. If they don’t, the bill would require those companies to pay a penalty. The Newsom administration has said this will prevent utilities from relying too much on the strategic reliability reserve, which uses gas-powered generators that pollute the air.

Alice Reynolds, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said the state has completed more than 100 projects that have added 9,000 megawatts of new clean energy in the past three years. The bill lawmakers approved on Wednesday also includes provisions to fast-track new electric transmission projects.

“We need to act quickly and we need to really have all hands on deck,” Reynolds said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Dog Left Behind After Owners Die Months Apart, Now Needs a Home

DON'T MISS

Frazier Defends $894K Pay as Nonprofit Loses $1.1M, Blames City for Financial Struggles

DON'T MISS

Key Events in the Air India Crash Investigation

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police to Target Speeding in Saturday Traffic Operation

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Sentenced for Fatal DUI Crash That Took Mother, Daughter’s Lives

DON'T MISS

US Judge Grants Trump Admin Request to Scrap Biden-Era Medical Debt Rule

DON'T MISS

Madera County Authorities Searching for Felony Theft Suspect

DON'T MISS

Fallout Over Handling of Epstein Case Erupts Into the Open

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Billy Ray Maldonaldo

DON'T MISS

One California Worker Dead, Hundreds Arrested After Cannabis Farm Raid

UP NEXT

Frazier Defends $894K Pay as Nonprofit Loses $1.1M, Blames City for Financial Struggles

UP NEXT

Key Events in the Air India Crash Investigation

UP NEXT

Fresno Police to Target Speeding in Saturday Traffic Operation

UP NEXT

Tulare County Man Sentenced for Fatal DUI Crash That Took Mother, Daughter’s Lives

UP NEXT

US Judge Grants Trump Admin Request to Scrap Biden-Era Medical Debt Rule

UP NEXT

Madera County Authorities Searching for Felony Theft Suspect

UP NEXT

Fallout Over Handling of Epstein Case Erupts Into the Open

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Billy Ray Maldonaldo

UP NEXT

One California Worker Dead, Hundreds Arrested After Cannabis Farm Raid

UP NEXT

Musk’s xAI Seeks up to $200 Billion Valuation in Next Fundraising, FT Reports

Fresno Police to Target Speeding in Saturday Traffic Operation

20 hours ago

Tulare County Man Sentenced for Fatal DUI Crash That Took Mother, Daughter’s Lives

20 hours ago

US Judge Grants Trump Admin Request to Scrap Biden-Era Medical Debt Rule

21 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Searching for Felony Theft Suspect

21 hours ago

Fallout Over Handling of Epstein Case Erupts Into the Open

22 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Billy Ray Maldonaldo

22 hours ago

One California Worker Dead, Hundreds Arrested After Cannabis Farm Raid

22 hours ago

Musk’s xAI Seeks up to $200 Billion Valuation in Next Fundraising, FT Reports

22 hours ago

Divided US Appeals Court Rejects Plea Deal for Accused September 11 Attacks Mastermind

23 hours ago

Skydance in Early Talks to Acquire The Free Press, NYT Reports

24 hours ago

Fresno Dog Left Behind After Owners Die Months Apart, Now Needs a Home

After losing both of his owners within months, a 5-year-old cattle dog named Oswald — better known as Ozzy — faced an uncertain future. But ...

3 hours ago

After losing both of his owners, a 5-year-old cattle dog named Ozzy found a second chance at happiness thanks to a local rescue group and a loving foster home. (Mell's Mutts)
3 hours ago

Fresno Dog Left Behind After Owners Die Months Apart, Now Needs a Home

20 hours ago

Frazier Defends $894K Pay as Nonprofit Loses $1.1M, Blames City for Financial Struggles

People gather near a damaged building and trees as firefighters work at the site where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
20 hours ago

Key Events in the Air India Crash Investigation

Fresno police will hold a traffic enforcement operation Saturday, July 12, 2025, focused on speeding and other violations, which could lead to DUI arrests. (Fresno PD)
20 hours ago

Fresno Police to Target Speeding in Saturday Traffic Operation

Blake Benham was sentenced to 23 years and 8 months in prison for a 2023 DUI crash in Dinuba that killed two women and seriously injured two others. (Tulare County SO)
20 hours ago

Tulare County Man Sentenced for Fatal DUI Crash That Took Mother, Daughter’s Lives

Solar panels at the background as U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to Vernon Electric Cooperative in Westby, Wisconsin, U.S., September 5, 2024. (Reuters File)
21 hours ago

US Judge Grants Trump Admin Request to Scrap Biden-Era Medical Debt Rule

The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is searching for Tyler Joseph Norris, 28, wanted for felony burglary and grand theft, who may be traveling with Teresa Marie Torres, 40, also wanted on a misdemeanor warrant. (Madera County SO)
21 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Searching for Felony Theft Suspect

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
22 hours ago

Fallout Over Handling of Epstein Case Erupts Into the Open

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend