Why Californians Have Some of the Highest Power Bills in the U.S.

Wall Street Journal ^ | August 5, 2024 | Phred Dvorak

[karpov]

California is doing all it can to expand renewable energy production and rebuild its electrical infrastructure after flaws led to a series of devastating wildfires.

The state’s big utilities are spending billions to bury power lines and insulate wires, while at the same time moving quickly away from fossil fuels by building big solar and wind farms and transmission lines to carry the power.

As a result, resident Jessica Simpson Nehrer, who lives in Borrego Springs, near San Diego, has seen her electricity bill for her ranch-style house soar. It hit $1,873.90 in June, far exceeding her $1,200 rent and around double what it was two summers ago.

Grocery store owner Rodger Gucwa tried cutting his power bill by raising the thermostat to 85 degrees—but found that the chocolate bars melted.

Nationwide, the costs of utility companies’ capital investments are being passed on to customers. Those added fees, combined with higher inflation and a series of heat waves, mean painful bills for many this summer.

California has seen some of the sharpest increases in the country—electricity prices in the state have nearly doubled during the past decade and are now higher than those of anywhere but Hawaii. The consumer advocate’s office at California’s utilities regulator has called the trajectory “untenable.”

Lawmakers, regulators, utilities and consumer-advocacy groups in the state are battling over how to fix the rising power costs and questioning who should pay for them. Legislators are trying to make the state’s utilities regulator dial back a fixed monthly charge that big utilities will levy on consumers next year. Other politicians have tried to repeal a major cut in rooftop solar subsidies that had made it more affordable for some households to generate their own power.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: energy

[karpov]

full article

[Retain Mike]

"moving quickly away from fossil fuels by building big solar and wind farms and transmission lines to carry the power."

Utility companies, unlike everyone else in California, are computing life cycle costs.

[faithhopecharity]

Plus they’ve had many of the most corrupt politicians and “regulators” anywhere. Not just D’s either

[Amendment10]

Thank you for referencing that article karpov.

"California is doing all it can to expand renewable energy production and rebuild its electrical infrastructure after flaws led to a series of devastating wildfires."

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One critique that I've seen about California devastating wildfires is the following allegation.

Mother Jones says we know how to prevent forest fires from spreading, but the people who run California have chosen to do the exact opposite. (7.27.24)

Also, let's not allow the anti-Trump media try to fade our memories of what we witnessed on July 13.

• Biden admin accused of 'colluding' with Big Tech to censor Donald Trump's 'raised fist' assassination attempt picture on Meta and Google (7.31.24)

• Down the Memory Hole: Google Hides Autocomplete Suggestions Related to Trump Assassination Attempt (7.28.24)

[Disambiguator]

I had a chat with a lady a few months ago who is an expert on all things grid. She told me that once you reach a certain percentage of “green” electricity in a given region, the grid becomes unstable. I think it was around 20%.

[Organic Panic]

When Ilived there and ran my biz it was dirt cheap. The Sierra Nevada reservoirs provided cheap power the entire Central Valley. Where I grew up we had geothermal. Now.... failed subsidized expensive garbage.

[TornadoAlley3]

Beverly Hills is Trump country.

[Reverend Wright]

It is only going to get worse.

Price in Germany currently is 39 cents per kWh

UK 27 cents

CA average is also 27 cents, so the Germany example shows it iwll go a lot higher.