Wildfires
Blackouts
Why Did California ISO Turn Off the Power?
In the banner year that is 2020, Californians did not expect to add power outages to their list of forgettable experiences, but that is what many in the state experienced starting Friday, Aug. 14, as the California Independent System Operators ordered utilities to voluntarily cut power due to triple-digit temperatures ...
Blog
Let the Legislature’s End of Session Games Begin
As the calendar shifts into August, there’s less than a month to go in the wildest legislative session in recent memory. The turning of the calendar also marks the return of the Legislature’s annual end-of-session games. No, I’m not talking about “legislative bingo” (which is a real thing where legislators ...
Blog
Coronavirus Chronicles: States Want Bailout for Past Profligate Spending
Even as House members consider themselves non-essential workers (they’ve decided to vote from home), it hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from coming up with bad ideas for the next stimulus package, including relief for states and municipalities with pre-existing economic conditions. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week at his ...
Business & Economics
Daniel Kolkey – What the Governor Can Do to Help Californians in the Next Fire Season
This podcast is a recorded lecture from PRI’s second annual policy conference in Sacramento. The speaker is Judge Daniel Kolkey, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He served as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeals and Legal Affairs Secretary for Governor Pete Wilson. California is approaching ...
Blog
What We’re Watching – The Best of PRI’s 2020 CA Ideas in Action Conference
PRI’s second annual “California Ideas in Action” conference was held a few weeks back. This year’s conference featured PRI scholars, policy experts, and real life changemakers discussing how free market ideas can address the new decade’s major challenges in California – homelessness, the future of work, education, health care, and ...
Blog
Bankruptcy Deadline May Not Save PG&E from State Takeover
Reeling from multiple massive state wildfires that its actions likely triggered, Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time last year. The investor-owned utility faces a June 30, 2020 deadline to come up with a plan to come out of bankruptcy, address the estimated $25 ...
California
California Not Exactly Roaring Into The ‘20s
A recent New York Times story posed an interesting question. “California is booming,” the Times says. “Why are so many Californians unhappy?” Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent 2-hour-and-50-minute budget announcement – where he boasted of his administration’s “successes” – there are many troubling signs the state is slowing down. Chief ...
Blog
California Governor Never Met a Task Force He Didn’t Like
If you were able to make it through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s almost three-hour budget briefing, you’ve probably been following the enormous funding proposals included in the $222.2 billion budget estimate. You can save 167 minute of your time and read the blog post by PRI’s Tim Anaya. Governor Newsom ...
Blog
At the Intersection of Art and Climate In California
When the California Air Resources Board opens its new headquarters in two years in Riverside, it will be basking in the radiance of the “world’s largest permanent collection of artworks addressing air quality and the effects of climate change.” The cost: $2.42 million, funded by a public art alliance. And ...
Blackouts
Kerry Jackson – The Great Blackouts of 2019
PRI Center for California fellow Kerry Jackson discusses the electricity shutoff that plunged some 3 million Californians into darkness. He reviews the history of California’s utility problems, the lack of market incentives for delivering power in the state, and examines the policy decisions that have contributed to the ongoing wildfire ...
Why Did California ISO Turn Off the Power?
In the banner year that is 2020, Californians did not expect to add power outages to their list of forgettable experiences, but that is what many in the state experienced starting Friday, Aug. 14, as the California Independent System Operators ordered utilities to voluntarily cut power due to triple-digit temperatures ...
Let the Legislature’s End of Session Games Begin
As the calendar shifts into August, there’s less than a month to go in the wildest legislative session in recent memory. The turning of the calendar also marks the return of the Legislature’s annual end-of-session games. No, I’m not talking about “legislative bingo” (which is a real thing where legislators ...
Coronavirus Chronicles: States Want Bailout for Past Profligate Spending
Even as House members consider themselves non-essential workers (they’ve decided to vote from home), it hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from coming up with bad ideas for the next stimulus package, including relief for states and municipalities with pre-existing economic conditions. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week at his ...
Daniel Kolkey – What the Governor Can Do to Help Californians in the Next Fire Season
This podcast is a recorded lecture from PRI’s second annual policy conference in Sacramento. The speaker is Judge Daniel Kolkey, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He served as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeals and Legal Affairs Secretary for Governor Pete Wilson. California is approaching ...
What We’re Watching – The Best of PRI’s 2020 CA Ideas in Action Conference
PRI’s second annual “California Ideas in Action” conference was held a few weeks back. This year’s conference featured PRI scholars, policy experts, and real life changemakers discussing how free market ideas can address the new decade’s major challenges in California – homelessness, the future of work, education, health care, and ...
Bankruptcy Deadline May Not Save PG&E from State Takeover
Reeling from multiple massive state wildfires that its actions likely triggered, Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time last year. The investor-owned utility faces a June 30, 2020 deadline to come up with a plan to come out of bankruptcy, address the estimated $25 ...
California Not Exactly Roaring Into The ‘20s
A recent New York Times story posed an interesting question. “California is booming,” the Times says. “Why are so many Californians unhappy?” Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent 2-hour-and-50-minute budget announcement – where he boasted of his administration’s “successes” – there are many troubling signs the state is slowing down. Chief ...
California Governor Never Met a Task Force He Didn’t Like
If you were able to make it through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s almost three-hour budget briefing, you’ve probably been following the enormous funding proposals included in the $222.2 billion budget estimate. You can save 167 minute of your time and read the blog post by PRI’s Tim Anaya. Governor Newsom ...
At the Intersection of Art and Climate In California
When the California Air Resources Board opens its new headquarters in two years in Riverside, it will be basking in the radiance of the “world’s largest permanent collection of artworks addressing air quality and the effects of climate change.” The cost: $2.42 million, funded by a public art alliance. And ...
Kerry Jackson – The Great Blackouts of 2019
PRI Center for California fellow Kerry Jackson discusses the electricity shutoff that plunged some 3 million Californians into darkness. He reviews the history of California’s utility problems, the lack of market incentives for delivering power in the state, and examines the policy decisions that have contributed to the ongoing wildfire ...
