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3w ago

California Legislature Sends Six-Bill Energy Overhaul to Newsom

The package aims to curb energy costs without abandoning California’s climate framework.

Lawmakers on the first day of session Jan. 3, 2024, on the Assembly floor at the state Capitol in Sacramento. (Fred Greaves for CalMatters) (Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters via AP, Pool)
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The control room at the California Independent System Operator, the organization that manages about 80% of California’s electric grid. The California ISO is located in Folsom. (California ISO)

Overview

  • Lawmakers approved the package in an extended weekend session and sent it to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is expected to sign it before an Oct. 13 deadline.
  • California’s cap-and-trade program is reauthorized to 2045 as “cap-and-invest,” with companion legislation directing an estimated $60 billion to $90 billion to climate, water and wildfire programs, including a reported $20 billion for high‑speed rail.
  • AB 825 clears a path to a Western regional electricity market, a move praised by the grid operator CAISO as a milestone, while consumer advocates at TURN warn it could burden ratepayers to support fossil plants in other states.
  • SB 237 seeks to bolster in‑state petroleum supply centered in Kern County as refineries prepare to shut capacity, a step environmental groups criticize as a last‑minute change they say could exempt local drilling from state review and enable up to 20,000 wells.
  • SB 254 raises $18 billion for the Wildfire Fund with half paid by investor‑owned utilities and half by customers over 10 years, and it adds low‑interest transmission financing and limits on utility returns intended to ease monthly bills.