News

Further commitments are needed to ensure GGRF funds are spent on critical programs

SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the May Revision to his 2024-2025 budget proposal, which maintains most of its multi-year commitments to critical clean energy programs, including the Distributed Electricity Backup Assets (DEBA) Program, and clean transportation programs, including those related to zero-emission school buses and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, through shifts to Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. 

CPUC approves a $24 fixed fee for utility customers’ monthly electricity bill  

SACRAMENTO, CA—The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved a monthly fixed fee that will be added to customers’ monthly utility bills. This fee is a result of a 2022 bill, Assembly Bill 205, thatdirected the CPUC to add a fixed charge to utility bills based on household income in exchange for lowering volumetric rates.The approved plan willadd a fixed charge of $24.15 to monthly utility bills (reduced to $12 or $6 for lower-income customers).  

Virtual power plants can provide opportunities for Californians to deliver power back into the grid

Western Regional Electricity Market Progress Continues to be Made 

New market approval continues forward momentum for RTO development in the West

SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, national business association Advanced Energy United applauded the commitment of Portland General Electric and Idaho Power to join the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) extended day-ahead market (EDAM), an electricity market poised to deliver enhanced reliability, economic, and environmental benefits to utilities and communities through the West when it begins in 2026.

Canary Media reports on the California lawmakers’ efforts to overturn the California Public Utilities Commission’s plan to propose income-graduated fixed fees with Assembly Bill 1999. The article quotes Edson Perez and Brian Turner on how ratepayers will be affected by this and the consequences of this fixed charge.

 

Of all the ways California regulators are proposing to rein in fast-rising electric utility rates, few are as controversial as the plan to charge customers for electricity service based on how much money they make.

 

California Lawmakers are pushing to dismantle fixed fee that would hike up utility bills

SACRAMENTO, CA – A coalition of California lawmakers led by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin have introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 1999, which would repeal a prior bill authorizing the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to implement a fixed-charge billing system for residential electricity bills based on household income. Instead, AB 1999 would cap utility fixed charges at $10.