Posted on 05/11/2024 9:18:47 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
California Democrats are frustrated by many of their consumers. No matter how much they plead, whine, and cajole, people simply aren't buying electric vehicles in the numbers the state is demanding. And progress in getting charging stations up and running is far behind schedule. Also, all of the electrical power being flushed into these systems is expensive. But don't worry about any of that. Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have a plan to address all of these woes. In order to subsidize the cost of electric vehicles and encourage more people to buy them, they're going to tack on a monthly subsidy charge to everyone's utility bills.
That's right... people who either don't want or can't afford an electric vehicle will be paying for the costs imposed by the minority of people who do. They will also be subsidizing conversions to electrical household appliances like stoves. (Free Beacon)
Millions of middle-class California households are poised to pay an extra $24 per month for electricity, regardless of how much electricity they use. Regulators are hoping this utility billing policy will rescue their agenda to move everyone to electric cars and appliances by redistributing the massive costs of the state’s electric grid so utilities can lower their usage rates.
But critics say the income-based premium will likely further hike utility costs for millions of Californians—nearly one-fifth of whom are already behind in paying their bills after household electricity rates almost doubled in the last decade—and likely won’t do much to cut the state’s sky-high electricity rates. The premiums are supposed to subsidize lower-income household electricity costs, which will be reduced by 5 cents to 7 cents per kilowatt hour, in a bid to make charging EVs and using electric heaters and appliances cheaper.
Keep in mind that Californians already pay some of the highest monthly energy bills at an average rate of over $123. (Hawaii has the highest, while Utah is the lowest at $80.) California also has the highest average monthly water bills in the nation. So this $24 per month bump represents a 20 percent increase, putting them closer to stealing the title from Hawaii. Thanks to Joe Biden's massive inflation rates, the cost of everything has already skyrocketed, particularly energy. How much more of this will people put up with?
Proponents are claiming that the extra costs will go toward reducing the cost of electricity for low-income households by a few cents per kilowatt-hour. But analysts aren't buying it, particularly when it comes to the state's mandate to do away with gas appliances and replace them with electric ones. The hourly cost will still be far higher than for natural gas stoves, just for one example.
Not everyone will be paying this premium, but the cutoff rate is quite low. In order to avoid paying the monthly fee, your household will need to earn less than $62,150 per year. That's precious little for a state with a cost of living as high as California's. The current average household income in California is more than $130,000. So the only people avoiding the price hike will be earning less than half as much.
All of this electrification is being pushed at a time when California's power grid is still existing on the edge during periods of high demand. This is particularly true during the summer when everyone's air conditioners are constantly running. They have continued to force coal and natural gas plants offline, attempting to replace them with wind and solar energy that costs more and is less reliable. The state's leadership has turned into a pack of lemmings in the name of climate change. The president of the state's utility commission said that the changes are "essential to transitioning us away from fossil fuels." The real question is what you're transitioning the state toward. From where I'm sitting, it looks like a catastrophe.
For those who need more reasons to realize California sucks.
EV owners will also pay this, no? Beauty.
Welcome to Texas, conservative California emigrants!
Er... nevermind.
Welcome to FLORIDA, conservative California emigrants! Moving to Texas would be a huge mistake.
Texas is just a big California suburb.
>> Texas is just a big California suburb.
I disagree, and our electoral record proves me right.
Okay, Austin maybe. But not Texas at large.
Bookmark.
We’re not finished with you yet...
>> We’re not finished with you yet...
We don’t have snow skiing in Texas. Great snow skiing is incredibly important to the preferences of shallow, emigrating California progressives. Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, heads up! You WILL be assimilated. (You already are being assimilated, in fact.) Look at the states that have already FALLEN to the progressive skier onslaught: CO, NM, WA, OR, NV...
Texas, not so much. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, no worries. ;-)
>>Welcome to Texas, conservative California emigrants!<<
NO NO NO. Stay in Cali and die there.
Elon Musk cheers.
We have North Carolina. We have South Carolina.
We have North Dakota. We have South Dakota.
West Virginia and Virginia....
It’s been done before Californians. How much more abuse can you take?
Do you really like Gavin on top of you telling you ‘don’t worry sweetie. Just the tip’?
Here in Florida, we have alligators, hurricanes, fire ants, smothering humidity, downpours, #FloridaMan, panthers, flying cock-a-roaches (palmetto bugs) and bad drivers. California people are better off not coming here.
California needs the guillotine
When Ford LOSES $100k on every EV, yet Ford is REQUIRED to produce more and more of them, it ain’t Ford that actually pays that $100k, and it ain’t the government that actually pays that $100k...take a guess who does pay it.
At least the people in California will know that they’re the SUCKERS for funding EVs, while Ford’s gasoline customers smirk their way to EMPTY POCKETS in other states while totally clueless that their pockets are being cleaned out just as quickly.
Maybe those folks that live in Hollywood should buy an electric vehicle for each of the homeless, so they can have a place to sleep....it’s only fair.
Just like healthcare!
And that is working so well…
In Indiana we have bad roads, potholes, tornados, bad traffic, and lots of hicks and HOOSIERS!!!
You’d do good NOT to come here either.
Navin Gruesome and his ‘rat minions want the cheese of all citizens.
Not exactly as “HotAir” is describing...CA electric utilities had NO “base charge” for infrastructure/maintenance on the electric bill... in the past (& currently). This is unlike most states (all costs were plowed into the price per kWh). In return for the new fee they are dropping the price per kWh by 5-7 cents. (Depending on Zip Code, Winter or Summer, etc., etc.). A quick figuring with my current bill indicates “break even” for me. The stupid part is the “means tested” variable flat fee...likely has to be court litigated due to income data being handed over to a private co. w/o permission.
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