Bloomberg Government reports that California lawmakers are pushing for Assembly Bill (AB) 825, which would allow the state to join a regional energy market. United's Leah Rubin Shen highlighted that the bill demonstrates California's commitment to a more affordable, reliable, and sustainable Western energy market.
Electric utilities in California would be able to more easily tap into power from across the Western US through a regional transmission organization under compromise legislation that state lawmakers unveiled Wednesday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and legislators want to clear the bill (AB 825) before they adjourn by the end of the week to better connect California's power supply to neighboring states. Business groups and some environmentalists argue the legislation would help lower electric costs, improve reliability and provide a broader market for renewable energy projects across the region.
The last-minute measure would allow the state to join a regional transmission authority, but doesn't include language that critics argued would have given California so much influence over the program that other states would have been reluctant to join.
"It shows a strong commitment toward a Western market that delivers on what California and the rest of the West need the most, more affordable and reliable power," Leah Rubin Shen, managing director of Advanced Energy United, a trade association that represents several renewable energy companies, said in a statement.
California must act quickly if it wants to keep up with other competing state efforts and attract potential participants in Colorado and Nevada, supporters argued. Newsom has also urged lawmakers to act on the issue this year, as California consumers pay the secondhighest electric rates in the US.
"The Governor worked on AB 825 with legislative leaders and looks forward to signing it when it reaches his desk," Daniel Villasenor, a spokesperson for Newsom, said in an email.
Previous proposals to create a regional transmission authority that would manage the sale of this power across California state lines and around the western US have bogged down over how much influence the state will have over the group.
State lawmakers introduced the bill in the final days before the legislature adjourns for the year. Legislators had planned to adjourn on Friday, but several bills on energy and climate change were released Wednesday morning. The state constitution requires bills to be posted at least 72 hours before lawmakers vote on them, which would result in a Saturday session.
Read the full article here.