Free Republic

California's Assembly on Tuesday approved one of the most ambitious renewable energy programs in the nation. The bill requires the state's utilities to get 33 percent of their power from renewable resources like biomass, geothermal, solar and wind by 2020, up from the current target of 20 percent by 2010. Currently, the state's three investor-owned utilities -- Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric -- get 18 percent of their electricity from wind farms, solar power plants, geothermal, and biomass facilities, according to a new report from the California Public Utilities Commission. But they...

In April, when Public Utilities Commission Chairman Michael Peevey persuaded the PUC board to back his plan to use $600 million generated by a 10-year surcharge on some energy bills to create a PUC-run global warming think tank, the response was far chillier than he probably expected. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was enthusiastic, but he was practically alone. Experts on utility law questioned whether it would be legal for an agency created to regulate utilities to force ratepayers to subsidize an agency think tank. Consumer groups such as The Utilities Reform Network questioned the fairness of imposing an additional de facto...

Edison International, PG&E Corp. and other suppliers of electricity in California will be required by state regulators to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Power companies in the most populous state will face a cap intended to bring emissions down, possibly to 1990 levels, according to a measure approved Thursday by the California Public Utilities Commission. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said last year that he wanted the state to cut greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The state would be the first to regulate emissions by electricity providers. "It's a very positive first step in the right direction," said Dan Kalb, the California...

<p>Is a palace coup under way at the California Public Utilities Commission?</p> <p>Insiders sure think so.</p> <p>All eyes these days are on Michael Peevey, a former Southern California Edison president who was appointed by Gov. Gray Davis in March to oversee his past employer (as well as PG&E, Pacific Bell and other such entities).</p>