Energy Costs
Blog
Read about Canada's recent wildfires
Bad Policy Could Make Canada’s Recent Fires Regular Occurrence in California
When California is on fire, the rest of the country looks on with the same morbid curiosity it has when yet any of the many Old Testament plagues that shake, rattle, parch, blister and sometimes flood the Golden State. But tables do sometimes turn. Canada’s recent wildfires meant that for ...
Kerry Jackson
July 6, 2023
Blog
Read about CA's war on suburbs
To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs
The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
Edward Ring
June 21, 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
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS–California’s Green Energy Transition: Is the State Getting Ahead of Itself?
No state is rushing toward a zero-carbon power grid faster than California. By 2045, every watt of electricity used in this state has to be produced by a source that emits no carbon dioxide. Sacramento is convinced it will happen because it has said so. Reality is likely to have ...
Kerry Jackson
March 17, 2023
Blog
Future cities could be beacons of innovation and hope
Futurist imaginings of what sort of world awaits humanity often embrace extreme scenarios, ranging from George Jetson’s utopia to George Orwell’s nightmare. They also tend to be wildly inaccurate. With that in mind – and not to stray too far into the territory of unrealistic optimism or excessive pessimism – ...
Edward Ring
January 13, 2023
Blog
Solving Two Problems At Once: Desalination And Nuclear Go Hand In Hand
Two of California’s most pressing problems are a growing scarcity of both water and power. Solving them does not require two separate efforts, though. They can be done together. Declaring atomic energy to be a renewable source of energy and then embarking on a building campaign would relieve the strain ...
Kerry Jackson
November 14, 2022
Business & Economics
Wayne Winegarden – A To Do List for the Next Congress
Our guest this week is Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics. The new members of Congress will take office in January in the midst of high inflation and economic uncertainty. PRI has developed a To Do List of reforms for both Washington and Sacramento. Wayne discusses some ...
Pacific Research Institute
November 7, 2022
Blog
Congress Needs to Look Beyond Green Energy
Current U.S. energy policy continues to subsidize uneconomical and inefficient sources of politically preferred energy while punishing the production and generation of reliable and cheap energy sources. As taxpayers, workers, and consumers we are paying a steep price for these irrational policies. Starting with the policies that punish domestic energy ...
Wayne Winegarden
October 25, 2022
Commentary
Columnist Has a Nuclear Meltdown
Even for a news outlet whose analyses of cutting-edge technologies are often flawed, a recent New York Times article by columnist Farhad Manjoo was exceptionally misguided. Titled “Nuclear Power Still Doesn’t Make Sense,” it is, in fact, the article that doesn’t make sense. Manjoo does recognize that nuclear power is important now, citing ...
Henry Miller, M.S., M.D.
October 7, 2022
Blackouts
Are Europe’s Energy Problems A Preview of Things to Come in California?
As Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of climate bills that supercharge the rush to renewable energy, much of Europe was preparing for a winter shivering in the dark. Why does California think that the problems created by a reckless commitment to green energy elsewhere will bypass this state? ...
Kerry Jackson
October 3, 2022
Read about Canada's recent wildfires
Bad Policy Could Make Canada’s Recent Fires Regular Occurrence in California
When California is on fire, the rest of the country looks on with the same morbid curiosity it has when yet any of the many Old Testament plagues that shake, rattle, parch, blister and sometimes flood the Golden State. But tables do sometimes turn. Canada’s recent wildfires meant that for ...
Read about CA's war on suburbs
To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs
The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
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 & ...
CAPITAL IDEAS–California’s Green Energy Transition: Is the State Getting Ahead of Itself?
No state is rushing toward a zero-carbon power grid faster than California. By 2045, every watt of electricity used in this state has to be produced by a source that emits no carbon dioxide. Sacramento is convinced it will happen because it has said so. Reality is likely to have ...
Future cities could be beacons of innovation and hope
Futurist imaginings of what sort of world awaits humanity often embrace extreme scenarios, ranging from George Jetson’s utopia to George Orwell’s nightmare. They also tend to be wildly inaccurate. With that in mind – and not to stray too far into the territory of unrealistic optimism or excessive pessimism – ...
Solving Two Problems At Once: Desalination And Nuclear Go Hand In Hand
Two of California’s most pressing problems are a growing scarcity of both water and power. Solving them does not require two separate efforts, though. They can be done together. Declaring atomic energy to be a renewable source of energy and then embarking on a building campaign would relieve the strain ...
Wayne Winegarden – A To Do List for the Next Congress
Our guest this week is Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in business and economics. The new members of Congress will take office in January in the midst of high inflation and economic uncertainty. PRI has developed a To Do List of reforms for both Washington and Sacramento. Wayne discusses some ...
Congress Needs to Look Beyond Green Energy
Current U.S. energy policy continues to subsidize uneconomical and inefficient sources of politically preferred energy while punishing the production and generation of reliable and cheap energy sources. As taxpayers, workers, and consumers we are paying a steep price for these irrational policies. Starting with the policies that punish domestic energy ...
Columnist Has a Nuclear Meltdown
Even for a news outlet whose analyses of cutting-edge technologies are often flawed, a recent New York Times article by columnist Farhad Manjoo was exceptionally misguided. Titled “Nuclear Power Still Doesn’t Make Sense,” it is, in fact, the article that doesn’t make sense. Manjoo does recognize that nuclear power is important now, citing ...
Are Europe’s Energy Problems A Preview of Things to Come in California?
As Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of climate bills that supercharge the rush to renewable energy, much of Europe was preparing for a winter shivering in the dark. Why does California think that the problems created by a reckless commitment to green energy elsewhere will bypass this state? ...