THE NET-ZERO BLOG
Climate policy analysis and updates from Sacramento
Will California leaders deliver on their affordability promise?
Exactly 12-months ago, negotiations between the Legislature and Administration regarding a suite of new energy affordability policies broke down. Now, following dozens of introduced bills and committee hearings and a lot of talk about affordability, the question remains: will the Governor and Legislature deliver on their promise to address the state’s energy affordability crisis?
Public financing of transmission would not damage the financial health of California IOUs, new analysis shows
Energy affordability is a central issue before the Legislature. One strategy in particular - reducing costs to build a modern transmission system by changing how this infrastructure is financed - would reap significant savings. However, a key concern that has consistently been raised by investor-owned utilities is that any attempt to change how the grid is financed, would result in credit downgrades for the utilities, and ultimately higher costs to ratepayers. This blog summarizes a new research note from the Center for Public Enterprise which addresses this knowledge gap.
Press release: Organizations push California leaders to prioritize infrastructure financing reforms
Today, Sunstone Strategies published a press release highlighting a major push by thirteen business, consumer, environmental, and clean power groups urging California lawmakers and Governor Newsom to act on reforms that could save utility customers nearly $4 billion each year.
Assembly releases cap-and-invest proposal that prioritizes affordability, clean energy
Today, the Assembly released a cap-and-invest reauthorization proposal. In this blog, we summarize the key reforms related to the market-based mechanism, including distribution of utility allowances, residential climate credit, and a new Clean Energy Infrastructure Investment Fund. Overall, the Assembly proposal would serve to meet immediate- and long-term energy affordability objectives while driving emissions reductions consistent with the state’s greenhouse gas mitigation goals.
A clean energy infrastructure plan for the GGRF
There is evidence that California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund investments are underperforming with multiple programs requiring thousands of dollars to reduce one ton of carbon emissions. Identifying opportunities for leverage - where $1 of public investment can generate a 3x, 4x, 5x or more improvement on key priorities such as residential rate reductions, clean energy deployment, climate resilience, and similar - could significantly improve the overall performance of the portfolio. This blog highlights one such opportunity: dedicating a portion of annual GGRF revenues into a revolving clean energy infrastructure fund. By targeting investments at high priority infrastructure, such as transmission, the fund can have the catalytic effect of unlocking gigawatts of new clean generation at low-cost.
Op-ed: A better deal on the power we need
Last week, NZC’s Director of Clean Power, Neil Matouka, published an op-ed in Capitol Weekly with Matthew Freedman of TURN, outlining how California can lower energy costs and meet climate goals by reforming transmission financing and ownership. The piece highlights new research showing that alternative models and public financing could cut transmission costs by over 50%, or up to $3 billion annually, and supports SB 330 (Padilla) to help achieve these savings.