Energy
Commentary
New Green Mandate Would Increase Electricity Costs
The EPA’s California Dreamin’ would be a nightmare for the country
By Rea S. Hederman Jr. and Wayne Winegarden The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released new emissions rules for coal- and natural gas-fired powerplants. Again. The new rules target greenhouse gases and requires electric utility companies to cut emissions “by 90 percent — or shut down.” The Biden Administration, eager ...
Pacific Research Institute
May 15, 2023
Commentary
CA banking on offshore wind for energy goals
Gavin Newsom’s Carbon-Neutral Grid Plan Looks To Be Going The Way Of The Bullet Train To Nowhere
California’s planned transition to a carbon-neutral electricity grid by 2045 relies heavily on offshore wind power. It might take a miracle to get there. The growth of offshore wind will have to accelerate faster than a Tesla Model S, which goes from zero to 60 in less than two seconds. ...
Kerry Jackson
May 6, 2023
Blog
How Are We Going to Build New Transmission Lines for Renewable Energy Transition?
The California Independent System Operator recently released its 2022-23 transmission plan, in which it outlines “new transmission infrastructure needed to reliably and efficiently meet California’s clean-energy objectives over the next decade.” It “identifies additional transmission and resource capacity” and “recommends 46 transmission projects costing an estimated $9.3 billion.” “But getting ...
Kerry Jackson
May 3, 2023
Commentary
Latest Anti-Nuclear Lawsuit Threatens Progress on California’s Clean Energy Goals
An agreement to pull the plug on the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in San Luis Obispo County was settled in 2016. But plans to close it in 2025 were delayed last year when California was hit in the mouth with an extreme heat wave that threatened the power grid. The ...
Kerry Jackson
May 1, 2023
Blog
U.S. Progressives Would Be Wise to Learn from Europe’s Shift Away from Socialism
The political progressives in the U.S. look to Europe for much if not most of their policy ideas. Be more like the Europeans, they say, adopt their welfare state models and their green energy programs, push the masses into cramped housing and set taxes and regulation so that they consume ...
Kerry Jackson
April 25, 2023
Commentary
CA wants to assess residential utility bills by household income.
From Each According to His Means
Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric have asked the California Public Utilities Commission for approval to charge customers a flat rate based on household income. The flat fees would be in addition to charges based on consumption, which, for San Diego Gas & ...
Kerry Jackson
April 18, 2023
Commentary
State energy mandates impose a more than $2,000 burden on every Californian
Lessons From California: Electric Vehicle Mandate Is Costly, Unrealistic
New automobile emission limits announced by the Biden Administration will force a massive increase in U.S. electric vehicle (EV) sales that, by 2032, will require at least two out of every three cars sold in the U.S. to be electric vehicles. This mandate is another instance of the Biden Administration ...
Wayne Winegarden
April 14, 2023
Blog
The British Model For Nuclear Energy – Is California Watching?
Twenty-two years from now, when the only electricity allowed in the state will be that sourced from windmills or solar farms, how will Californians cope? The odds that those two, along with miniscule contributions from small dams and geothermal, will produce enough power to meet demand are long. It would ...
Kerry Jackson
April 11, 2023
Blog
Previewing Gov. Newsom’s Political Roadshow State of the State
The Associated Press reports that “Newsom plans to fulfill his constitutional requirement by sending a letter to the State Legislature” instead of delivering the usual speech at the State Capitol. Part of me felt a little nostalgic by the news. I’ve had the chance to work on both sides of ...
Tim Anaya
March 13, 2023
Commentary
State nowhere near meeting unrealistic energy goals, and that’s a good thing
California is barreling toward its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target. Will it make it? The Legislative Analyst’s Office doesn’t seem to think so. By statute, emissions are to be at 40 percent of 1990 levels by 2030, then 85 percent below by 2045. The California Air Resources Board recently set ...
Kerry Jackson
January 29, 2023
New Green Mandate Would Increase Electricity Costs
The EPA’s California Dreamin’ would be a nightmare for the country
By Rea S. Hederman Jr. and Wayne Winegarden The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released new emissions rules for coal- and natural gas-fired powerplants. Again. The new rules target greenhouse gases and requires electric utility companies to cut emissions “by 90 percent — or shut down.” The Biden Administration, eager ...
CA banking on offshore wind for energy goals
Gavin Newsom’s Carbon-Neutral Grid Plan Looks To Be Going The Way Of The Bullet Train To Nowhere
California’s planned transition to a carbon-neutral electricity grid by 2045 relies heavily on offshore wind power. It might take a miracle to get there. The growth of offshore wind will have to accelerate faster than a Tesla Model S, which goes from zero to 60 in less than two seconds. ...
How Are We Going to Build New Transmission Lines for Renewable Energy Transition?
The California Independent System Operator recently released its 2022-23 transmission plan, in which it outlines “new transmission infrastructure needed to reliably and efficiently meet California’s clean-energy objectives over the next decade.” It “identifies additional transmission and resource capacity” and “recommends 46 transmission projects costing an estimated $9.3 billion.” “But getting ...
Latest Anti-Nuclear Lawsuit Threatens Progress on California’s Clean Energy Goals
An agreement to pull the plug on the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in San Luis Obispo County was settled in 2016. But plans to close it in 2025 were delayed last year when California was hit in the mouth with an extreme heat wave that threatened the power grid. The ...
U.S. Progressives Would Be Wise to Learn from Europe’s Shift Away from Socialism
The political progressives in the U.S. look to Europe for much if not most of their policy ideas. Be more like the Europeans, they say, adopt their welfare state models and their green energy programs, push the masses into cramped housing and set taxes and regulation so that they consume ...
CA wants to assess residential utility bills by household income.
From Each According to His Means
Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric have asked the California Public Utilities Commission for approval to charge customers a flat rate based on household income. The flat fees would be in addition to charges based on consumption, which, for San Diego Gas & ...
State energy mandates impose a more than $2,000 burden on every Californian
Lessons From California: Electric Vehicle Mandate Is Costly, Unrealistic
New automobile emission limits announced by the Biden Administration will force a massive increase in U.S. electric vehicle (EV) sales that, by 2032, will require at least two out of every three cars sold in the U.S. to be electric vehicles. This mandate is another instance of the Biden Administration ...
The British Model For Nuclear Energy – Is California Watching?
Twenty-two years from now, when the only electricity allowed in the state will be that sourced from windmills or solar farms, how will Californians cope? The odds that those two, along with miniscule contributions from small dams and geothermal, will produce enough power to meet demand are long. It would ...
Previewing Gov. Newsom’s Political Roadshow State of the State
The Associated Press reports that “Newsom plans to fulfill his constitutional requirement by sending a letter to the State Legislature” instead of delivering the usual speech at the State Capitol. Part of me felt a little nostalgic by the news. I’ve had the chance to work on both sides of ...
State nowhere near meeting unrealistic energy goals, and that’s a good thing
California is barreling toward its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target. Will it make it? The Legislative Analyst’s Office doesn’t seem to think so. By statute, emissions are to be at 40 percent of 1990 levels by 2030, then 85 percent below by 2045. The California Air Resources Board recently set ...