Newsom Signals Support for Regionalizing California’s Energy Market
California Energy Markets
The effort to expand California’s wholesale market regionally received a boost this week as Gov. Gavin Newsom and leading legislators endorsed the effort, but thorny legislative challenges and other uncertainties remain. “We have the opportunity to expand regional power markets that help drive down energy costs and increase grid reliability—or we can turn our backs on this proven model and opt for higher costs and power outages,” Newsom said in a written statement.
A broader coalition of EDAM supporters is pushing for SB 540 to pass before a Sept. 12 legislation deadline, but wants a “workable” bill amended for several reasons. The coalition, which includes labor, business and environmental groups; clean-energy and consumer advocates; public utilities; and community choice aggregators, on July 16 issued an “amend and pass” news release regarding SB 540. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Josh Becker (D-13th District) and Henry Stern (D-27th District).
Members of the coalition include the California Community Choice Association, the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Municipal Utilities Association, Environmental Defense Fund, PacifiCorp, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Western Freedom and others.
Read more here:Newsom Signals Support for Regionalizing California’s Energy Market | Bottom Lines | newsdata.com
