That is the March 17, 2022, version of Boiling Level, a weekly publication about local weather change and the atmosphere in California and the American West. Join right here to get it in your inbox.
What employs 1,400 folks, has a $2.8-billion finances and oversees Pacific Gasoline & Electrical, Uber and the Union Pacific Railroad?
In case you guessed the California Public Utilities Fee, effectively, you in all probability learn the headline of this story.
Or, for those who’re like me, you’re intimately accustomed to the 143-year-old company. The CPUC is a strong forms with a lengthy listing of regulatory obligations, together with electrical and gasoline utilities, ride-hailing providers, rail security and privately owned water utilities.
For the needs of this article, the CPUC is necessary due to its big function in confronting the local weather disaster. The company should approve all clear energy purchases by electrical utilities together with PG&E and Southern California Edison, whereas ensuring these corporations have the right combination of assets to maintain the lights on. It is usually tasked with pushing the pure gasoline business to scale back planet-warming air pollution, in addition to figuring out monetary incentives for rooftop photo voltaic — a topic of intense debate.
The company’s new president is Alice Reynolds, and she or he was type sufficient to spend an hour speaking with me. Reynolds was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in November after beforehand serving as an vitality advisor to him and to his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown. She changed Marybel Batjer, who introduced her resignation from the CPUC final fall, lower than one yr right into a six-year time period.
Reynolds and I mentioned rooftop photo voltaic, the tempo of the vitality transition, excessive electrical charges and the problem of holding Pacific Gasoline & Electrical accountable, amongst different matters. Listed below are some highlights from our dialog, edited and condensed for readability.
ME: Let’s speak local weather. The fee just lately set a stricter 2030 emissions goal, however some local weather activists nonetheless say it’s nonetheless not ok. And Newsom has talked about 2045 being too lengthy to attend for 100% clear electrical energy. What's the CPUC doing to get extra photo voltaic farms, wind generators, batteries and different clear vitality amenities constructed extra shortly?
REYNOLDS: We’re considering quick time period, midterm and long run, and making an attempt to do the planning for the long term in order that we are able to pull ahead improvement of latest assets as quickly as doable. If we are able to get to the final word goal sooner, that’s higher.
Proper now, one of many greatest challenges is simply getting tasks constructed. We’ve had a big quantity of battery tasks go into the bottom this previous yr, simply unprecedented. But it surely’s a sophisticated course of. Collectively with different companies, we now have been engaged on supply-chain points. For example, if we all know that battery shipments are coming in, can we ensure these are prioritized?
ME: Final summer time, the fee ordered utilities and native governments to purchase 11,500 megawatts of latest clear energy assets by 2026 to assist substitute the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant and 4 Southern California gasoline crops. How assured are you that these assets will likely be constructed quick sufficient to keep away from a repeat of the August 2020 rolling blackouts — or worse?
REYNOLDS: It’s scary, proper? What we’re doing is so necessary to the state, and so necessary to the planet. We didn’t anticipate the pandemic. I don’t assume we anticipated the wildfire season being so catastrophic. It’s onerous to know what’s going to hit us subsequent.
However based mostly on the power of the builders, the state companies, the governor’s workplace, the utilities and the native governments all working collectively — and the contracts which have already been entered into — I've lots of confidence that we are able to do that.
ME: These Southern California gasoline crops had been alleged to shut down in 2020, however after the rolling blackouts state officers prolonged the closure deadline to 2023. Do you see that date as being set in stone, or are you open to a different extension?
REYNOLDS: We have now taken steps in order that we don’t want these crops. We have now deadlines in our procurement orders to verify we now have assets to switch them. What I wish to do is concentrate on is ensuring these clear vitality tasks get constructed.
I by no means wish to say by no means. One thing may all the time occur that’s sudden. However that's the date we're focusing on.
ME: Lithium-ion batteries will play an enormous function in changing gasoline, however the state’s largest battery facility, at Moss Touchdown alongside the Central Coast, has been offline for months after two overheating incidents. Have you ever been following that?
REYNOLDS: I've been. It seems like they haven’t recognized a defect within the battery system, which is nice information. They'd a malfunction and have been in a position to right it. However we're asking questions of different amenities, and pointing to Moss Touchdown and saying everybody ought to concentrate and be sure to don’t have related issues. It’s hopefully extra of a rising ache.
ME: The California Unbiased System Operator just lately projected a necessity for $30.5 billion value of latest transmission strains over the following 20 years, to attach renewable vitality amenities with cities that want energy. Transmission strains are costly and may take a decade to deliver to fruition, and the CPUC has been criticized by builders and activists for being too gradual and too hesitant to permit utilities to spend ratepayer cash constructing them. Does that should change?
REYNOLDS: Up to now, we’ve had a extra — I wouldn’t say a extra conservative method, however the method that matched the place we had been on the buildout of latest assets. It’s been described by some folks as simply going ahead with no-regrets tasks. I feel we now have been adjusting. However I wouldn’t say we wish to abandon the no-regrets method. We have now to get the stability proper.
So sure, we all know we have to construct transmission. We'd like to consider planning for it and never ready till the final minute, as a result of these are lengthy tasks. And if there are alternatives to keep away from new transmission, we’ll definitely have a look at these as effectively.
ME: Talking of avoiding new transmission, let’s speak rooftop photo voltaic. I do know you'll be able to’t say so much about rooftop photo voltaic incentives, for the reason that internet metering incentive program is the topic of an energetic fee continuing. However Newsom criticized the CPUC’s current proposal to slash internet metering — and after becoming a member of the company, you shelved the proposal. Why?
REYNOLDS: I wouldn’t name it shelved, essentially. I'd simply say we’re taking a while to take a look at it and think about it actually rigorously, and think about all the feedback within the report.
ME: Are you able to give us a way of how lengthy it'd take to come back out with a brand new proposal, or announce the next move?
REYNOLDS: No, I can’t say.
ME: Greater image, what function do you see rooftop photo voltaic taking part in in assembly California’s local weather objectives?
REYNOLDS: We will have a look at the Power Fee’s 100% clear vitality report and use that as a blueprint. The assumptions for progress of buyer photo voltaic are vital — 39 gigawatts by 2045, up from about 10 gigawatts at this time. There’s lots of work to do.
ME: Are there different steps the CPUC can take to get extra rooftop photo voltaic constructed, or does all of it come all the way down to internet metering?
REYNOLDS: We do produce other proceedings on distributed assets. However I wouldn’t actually restrict it to rooftop photo voltaic. There’s batteries, there’s electrical autos, there’s vitality effectivity, there’s warmth pump water heaters, there’s load flexibility. All of these issues are going to affect electrical energy demand. And we'd like to verify we now have the assets to serve that demand.
ME: One space the place California has lagged behind different states is neighborhood photo voltaic — small native amenities that serve households who dwell in flats or don’t personal their properties. Ought to the CPUC do extra to advertise neighborhood photo voltaic?
REYNOLDS: I feel so. I'm very intrigued with the idea. It's associated to the [net metering] continuing, and it's an open difficulty there, so I don’t wish to say an excessive amount of. However usually, I would love to discover methods to reap the benefits of neighborhood photo voltaic.
ME: A significant focus of the fee currently has been affordability. Electrical energy prices are rising quick, which hurts low-income households probably the most and will disrupt the state’s local weather plans by making it tougher for folks to afford electrical autos and electrical warmth pumps. What's the CPUC doing, or what ought to it's doing, to maintain electrical and gasoline charges beneath management?
REYNOLDS: Affordability is one thing we have to have a look at very carefully. Wildfire prevention prices are starting to point out up in charges, and we’ve additionally seen charges impacted by the spike in pure gasoline costs, sadly. We’re engaged on our low-income packages to ensure that they’re absolutely subscribed and dealing as they need to be. We have now a pilot percentage-of-income cost plan.
Can another person pay for a few of these prices, fairly than ratepayers? I'd level to at least one instance the place the governor and the Legislature created a program to make use of federal funds from the American Rescue Plan to provide $1 billion in debt reduction to utility clients throughout the pandemic. These funds are mechanically credited to payments, so they simply movement straight to ratepayers.
It’s the low-income, most susceptible residents who're struggling, and we wish to ensure they get additional consideration. But it surely’s additionally all people. Many individuals don’t qualify for our CARE discounted fee program, however they’re additionally struggling to make ends meet.
ME: I’ve heard it steered that the Legislature ought to use the state finances to pay for among the packages at present funded via electrical energy charges, comparable to wildfire prevention and vitality effectivity incentives. That may arguably be extra progressive, as a result of the heaviest burden wouldn’t fall on the lowest-income households. What do you assume?
REYNOLDS: I feel that’s extra a query for the Legislature, and balancing the priorities of the finances.
ME: One of many CPUC’s highest-profile points the previous couple of years has been PG&E. What would you say to critics who really feel the company hasn’t achieved almost sufficient to carry the corporate accountable as its poles and wires proceed to spark fires?
REYNOLDS: The fee, together with earlier than I bought right here, has been taking enforcement actions in opposition to PG&E. We have now issued report penalties — beginning with the San Bruno gasoline pipeline explosion and going to the North Bay fires — of a number of billion dollars.
But it surely’s not nearly penalties. It’s about ensuring PG&E has a tradition of security, is making the best selections and has the best incentives in place — after which holding them accountable with penalties and our enforcement authority once they screw up.
PG&E has modified. They've a brand new board in place, and new government administration. They're taking actions to shore up their system, to harden their infrastructure, to enhance the way in which they do vegetation administration. However we’re going to proceed to observe them. We’re going to ensure that they’re being as environment friendly as doable and that they’re spending cash in the best methods.
ME: Another query: The CPUC is nominally an unbiased company, however its members are appointed by the governor, your former boss. To what extent do the commissioners coordinate with Newsom, or take route from Newsom?
REYNOLDS: Once we’re making selections, we’re doing that on the idea of the report earlier than us, and on authorized requirements.
Once we’re speaking about bigger coverage objectives — sure, we’re unbiased, however we’re not going to disregard the truth that the governor issued an government order calling for all light-duty car gross sales to be zero-emission by 2035, for instance. We’re not going to disregard his requires transferring extra shortly on local weather change, particularly given the impacts that we’re seeing right here in California.
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Look out for extra from our dialog in some upcoming tales. Subscribe to The Occasions to be sure to don’t miss them.
Till then, right here’s what’s taking place across the West:
TOP STORIES
California cities used extra water in January 2022 than they did in January 2021, regardless of a worsening drought and a name from Gov. Gavin Newsom to chop again by 15%.Right here’s the story from The Occasions’ Hayley Smith. State officers, in fact, are urging Californians to save lots of water — however not mandating it but regardless of the driest January and February on report, my colleague Ian James stories. And naturally it is a drawback throughout the West. Simply look to Lake Powell; the Colorado River reservoir fell beneath a key threshold this week for the primary time ever, per the Arizona Republic’s Brandon Loomis. In Utah, circumstances are so unhealthy that neighboring counties are combating over dwindling groundwater provides, Amy Joi O’Donoghue writes for the Deseret Information.
Why does gasoline price a lot extra in California than in different states? It’s not simply greater taxes and environmental guidelines — there have been allegations of unlawful worth fixing, Connor Sheets stories for The Occasions. Elected officers are taking be aware, with one state lawmaker introducing a invoice that may pressure Golden State oil refineries to open their books, Eliyahu Kamisher stories for the Mercury Information. You’d assume reducing or suspending the gasoline tax could be a house run with voters, however the politics are literally fairly difficult; my colleague Phil Willon explains why. You’d additionally assume excessive gasoline costs would immediate extra Angelenos to take public transit — and whereas the jury continues to be out, commuter rail ridership on Metrolink noticed an 8% uptick, The Occasions’ Rachel Uranga writes.
World carbon dioxide emissions reached their highest stage ever final yr. Particulars right here from USA Immediately’s Doyle Rice, who writes that emissions rose by 6%, with coal accounting for 40% of the rise. And lest we neglect that fossil fuels don’t simply drive the local weather disaster, a research out of North Dakota’s Bakken area finds that flaring — burning off extra pure gasoline at drilling websites — can enhance hospitalizations for folks residing so far as 60 miles away, Hannah Grover writes for New Mexico Political Report.
ALL ABOUT NATIONAL PARKS
Will a photo voltaic increase in rural Nevada harm tourism to Loss of life Valley Nationwide Park? Native officers in and across the Loss of life Valley gateway city of Beatty are alarmed by 14 photo voltaic tasks proposed in 14 months, with a collective capability of 14,000 megawatts, Scott Streater stories for E&E Information. That is yet one more instance of the rising rigidity between renewable vitality and aesthetic values, which I’ve written about beforehand. It’s additionally a reminder that Loss of life Valley is a reasonably particular place ... particularly for the man who just lately hiked 170 miles via the park in 96 hours, staying alive (barely) by filtering arsenic-laden water alongside the way in which. My colleague Lila Seidman chronicled his journey. (In all seriousness, please don’t do that your self, or you'll in all probability die.)
Elsewhere within the desert, Joshua Tree Nationwide Park noticed greater than 3 million visits final yr, and it badly wants extra funding to maintain up with surging crowds. The Desert Solar’s Janet Wilson spent a day with Joshua Tree’s superintendent, David Smith, to see how he’s dealing with the inflow; Smith advised her he thinks the park is so fashionable as a result of, regardless of the tough atmosphere, “life holds on and it thrives right here. It for me is an efficient instance of what I need out of life.” (He needs a brand new southern entrance for the park too.) In case you love Joshua Tree, additionally you should definitely take a look at these jaw-dropping pictures taken by The Occasions’ Allen J. Schaben.
Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan performed a key function within the early safety of Yellowstone Nationwide Park — and the wide-brimmed hats worn by Park Service rangers at this time began with the Military troops who initially enforced park guidelines. I undoubtedly didn’t know this a part of Yellowstone’s origin story, as advised by Dave Kindy for the Washington Submit. In the meantime, because the park celebrates its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, hunters have killed about one-fifth of its wolves in lower than six months, the Submit’s Joshua Partlow stories.
AROUND THE WEST
Bureau of Land Administration knowledge present that 54 million acres of federal land are failing the company’s well being requirements — largely due to cattle grazing. That’s half the rangeland the bureau has assessed, Kylie Mohr stories for Excessive Nation Information, in a narrative that doesn't paint a reasonably image of how the federal authorities manages our public lands. Fossil gasoline extraction additionally poses a risk, which is why conservationists had been glad to see Trump-era oil and gasoline leases in Nevada and Wyoming canceled by a federal choose, as Niina H. Farah stories for E&E Information. Then there’s mining — and if President Biden imposes sanctions on Russian uranium, it may assist spur home uranium mining on public lands, Jonathan P. Thompson writes in his Land Desk publication.
The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe is suing Seattle on behalf of salmon within the Skagit River, arguing that hydroelectric dams are violating the salmon’s constitutional proper to be free from unlawful seizures. “Individuals have to know that these are our legal guidelines, and for those who come into our territory and do issues that have an effect on us you ought to be accustomed to our legal guidelines,” a tribal lawyer advised the Guardian’s Lester Black. “These tribal beliefs shouldn’t be ridiculed. They’re based mostly on ancestral information that shouldn’t be discounted.”
New Mexico’s largest wind farm is now on-line, sending energy to L.A. and different California cities. The Land of Enchantment has much more wind to export — however provided that new energy strains get constructed, Kevin Robinson-Avila stories for the Albuquerque Journal.
POLITICAL CLIMATE
State lawmakers shortly handed — and Gov. Gavin Newsom shortly signed — a legislation amending the California Environmental High quality Act in order that UC Berkeley doesn’t have to chop down on fall enrollment, as instructed by a current court docket order.Right here’s the story from The Occasions’ Colleen Shalby, who quotes Meeting Speaker Anthony Rendon as saying he’s “not a proponent of gutting an act that has made California a pacesetter in environmental protections and environmental innovation,” however that he voted to amend CEQA as a result of “we now have seen just lately the misguided utility of an environmental legislation to pupil enrollment.”
With Hollister Ranch owners gearing as much as sue to dam entry to the pristine seashores they at present lord over, the California Coastal Fee is pushing again the timeline for public entry.Particulars right here from Matthew Renda at Courthouse Information Service. The truth that public entry is within the playing cards in any respect is basically on account of my colleague Rosanna Xia’s tireless protection.
A choose has blocked one other sprawling suburban improvement over wildfire considerations. The three,000-home undertaking in San Diego County would possibly nonetheless get constructed if the developer can enhance wildfire evacuation routes, Blake Nelson stories for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Even when that occurs, although, the neighborhood is certain to generate a number of local weather air pollution from prolonged automotive journeys.
ONE MORE THING
Full disclosure: I’ve by no means composted, however I’ll in all probability must study due to a new state legislation. So I appreciated this story by my colleague James Rainey on native teams which might be serving to Angelenos make extra sustainable selections for his or her meals waste. It jogged my memory of the local weather advantages of sending much less waste to landfills, and helped me begin to wrap my thoughts round composting.
I additionally discovered so much in regards to the tough course of of putting in an electrical car charger in your house from this piece by The Occasions’ Russ Mitchell, based mostly on his personal expertise after shopping for a used EV. Identical with Jon Healey’s ideas for saving cash on gasoline.
Information you should utilize, courtesy of the L.A. Occasions. Have I discussed you need to subscribe?
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