Posted on 08/06/2024 6:53:33 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Mostly hydro power?
Yes. James Bay.
The legacy of Premier Robert Bourassa.
He saw the potential and made it happen.
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