Total cost to electrify the US. (Photo: Tom Tanton State-by-State Electrification Costs Report)
Gov. Newsom Orders Phase-Out of Gas-Powered Vehicles
Timely new study shows high cost of total electrification
By Katy Grimes, September 23, 2020 12:46 pm
With Climate Week 2020 events underway in California this week, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035 and “additional measures to eliminate harmful emissions from the transportation sector.”
The Governor’s Executive Order also addresses “closure and remediation of former oil extraction sites.”
Newsom announced Wednesday he will aggressively move the state further away from its reliance on “climate change-causing” fossil fuels. Newsom is also expected to announce he will abolish the use of natural gas and propane appliances.
California has been unable to keep the electric grid functioning during heat waves, but Gov. Newsom issued an executive order stating all residents must have electric cars by 2035.
As climate and environmental activist Michael Shellenberger said Wednesday on Twitter responding to Newsom’s latest order, “If you care so much about the climate why are you trying to close California’s last nuclear power plant? Diablo Canyon: – provides clean energy to 3M people – is needed to fuel EVs – is set to be replaced by fossil fuels, creating CO2-equivalent to adding 2M cars to road.”
If you care so much about the climate why are you trying to close California's last nuclear power plant?
Diablo Canyon:
– provides clean energy to 3M people
– is needed to fuel EVs
– is set to be replaced by fossil fuels, creating CO2-equivalent to adding 2M cars to road https://t.co/C4LkhY15TG
— Mike Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) September 23, 2020
This latest “green new deal” order coincides with a newly released, state-by-state report on the capital cost associated with “electrification” for states and the nation. The report by The Energy & Environment Legal Institute, and its accompanying data spreadsheet, was authored by Tom Tanton, E&E Legal’s Director of Science and Technology Assessment.
Electrification is converting the entire economy to use electricity as a fuel.
In a California Globe interview, Tanton said the push to electrify everything is a key component of the national Green New Deal. However, his study focused solely only on the cost of energy electrification – which is almost worse given the potential costs.
He said his study is intended to open a dialogue to discuss what it will take to achieve total electrification, as well as to show that “it’s pretty damn expensive.”
“The estimate for annual energy expenses directly and indirectly paid by households will likely increase by at least $5,000 per household. Annual consumer expenditure for energy would roughly double,” the report found.
According to the report, electrifying the entire nation, with a goal of eliminating the direct consumption of fuel and reducing climate change emissions, would cost between $18 trillion and $30 trillion in first costs. Going all renewable, says Tanton, will force costs to the high end of the range – $30 trillion.
“The US currently derives about 35% of its electricity from natural gas but have also nearly doubled their use of renewable fuels in the past decade, from 9% to 17%, according to the EIA,” the report says. “This growth however doesn’t account for the electricity generated from non-renewable sources during periods of peak electrical demand. Whether it is peak load or normal operating times, policy makers must understand how the variables in utility operation impact the fuel availability and cost.”
Also, constructing and implementing an “all-electric” nation will include two other significant costs: stranded assets and deadweight losses. The bottom line is that electrification is not a cost-effective means of reducing carbon emissions from commercial or residential buildings nor the transportation sector.
Tanton says there are other ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Electrification of everything is a poor means to reduce greenhouse gasses and exposes customers to more frequent outages. Further, we’d just be substituting one set of environmental impacts for another,” said Tanton. “There are several other more environmentally-friendly and cost-effective means to accomplish this goal, and we simply can’t afford to electrify everything as the report clearly shows.”
Removing carbon directly from the atmosphere, rather than reducing emissions, can be accomplished by improving agricultural practice and enhancing the carbon storage of soil, Tanton said in the report. “A great deal of carbon, once in the soil, is now in the atmosphere. We have lost two thirds historical soil humus to the atmosphere, representing 476 gigatons of CO2 and for a sense of perspective – all of mankind’s other activities since 1860 have released a total of just 250 gigatons of CO223. A mere 2% increase in the carbon content of the planet’s soils could offset 100% of all greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere.”
Tanton said that electrification will destroy decades of diversification by the market, tying consumers to a fragile yet monolithic electric grid. The electric grid is ill-equipped for extreme conditions, like extended heat waves or polar vortex cold snaps, without blackouts, as just happened in California. “The likelihood of outages will increase with the considerable increase in demand associated with electric cars, removing natural gas from buildings, and other electrification moves. Building a more robust grid to handle such extremes would add perhaps $7 trillion to the costs.”
The report notes that Texas would lead the way in terms of total electrification costs at $3.157 trillion, followed by California at $2.823 trillion. What’s even more frightening is the per capita costs of such an expensive and destructive experiment. For example, each resident of Louisiana can expect a bill of $166,065, while Wyoming citizens would be on the hook for $158,961 apiece, and those in North Dakota would face a tab of $133,847.
Tanton, who lives in California and formerly a Principal Policy Advisor with the CA Energy Commission (CEC), has witnessed first-hand the devastation wrought by attempts at complete electrification.
“California’s rolling blackouts and cataclysmic forest fires are not the results of climate change. They are the direct result of poor leadership and destructive energy policies that should be rolled back in my state and others before it’s too late,” Tanton said.
The link to the report: Cost of Electrification: A State-by-State Analysis and Results
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Thanks for this heads up article. I’m going out right now and plant an electricity tree to stay ahead of the expected electricity demand Gruesome’s boneheaded decision will generate…..
Let them eat cake! Famous last words.
Love it.
We are not facing a “climate crisis”. We are facing an “Executive Order Crisis”. Yes I am a climate change denier! Cars are not melting glaciers! Cars are not raising sea levels! Cars are not causing wildfires! The glaciers and ice packs according to the greenies were supposed to be melted and gone in 2010. Then they said they will be gone in 2013. Areas like Manhattan and Miami Beach were to be under water! Now these crackpots are saying we have ten years left to live. Well during those next ten years I am going to be driving my Dodge Ram pickup with it’s Hemi engine as much as possible to inflict as much “global whining” as I can!
Currently in California Hydro Electric Power facilities are not considered carbon free.
Glad that I will have left this, “Veil of tears” by 2035
Only Newsolini-Gruesome would come out of a summer of rolling blackouts from a raggedy, falling-apart electric transmission system and reliance on “renewables,” and an unprecedented, devastating, early fire season (in August) which he blames on “climate change” but is really, clearly from shockingly unmanaged forests, and stand at his stupid podium with a straight face to MANDATE unaffordable all-electric vehicles for everyone starting in 2035, with the rest of the fleet on the road looking like Cuba.
This jerk is really addicted to watching Californians’ heads explode.
And P.S., he is NOT authorized to do this.
Curious if this mandate will apply to out of state visitors and big rig trucks bringing in goods? Will this entail another “Strike Team”?
In the past 20 years the US has cut its carbon emissions by 5.8%
In the past 20 years China has increased its carbon emissions by 180%
Hey, now – don’t go confusing the enviroloons with facts and logic.
AB-1745 Vehicles: Clean Cars 2040 Act. died in committee 2 years ago.
What’s the point of having a legislature if we have an emperor like Newsom?
Clearly they are not needed.
Yes sir. TWO great points.
“In the past 20 years China has increased its carbon emissions by 180%” and we here on the West Coast are fighting a loosing battle
Reason # 9,261 to leave the state as soon as possible. So glad we moved to a different state in March.
@Bonnie S Nicholls
You picked the right time, you must have foresight!
This would be a violation of innerstate commerce which the courts have ruled against the state on,you don’t get to decide what I or cannot buy.
Newsom is a complete horse’s ass….
I was furious about the gas car ban, but the natural gas & propane is a bridge too far…
This is going to completely tube the economy and this horse’s ass is leading the “carbon war” that China is responsible for but no, Governor Hairgel is going to lead the lemmings off the economic cliff to virtue signal for the NorCal freaks that wear masks while they drive in their cars by themselves…
This state is run by the insane, leading the stupid…
We’re out before the real economic carnage hits… Maybe back for vacations , but to live and pay for these a-holes bad decision making???
No effing way….
California is led by supermajority morons; voted in by morons. Newson unilaterally outlaws the sale of new gas vehicles by 2035 in CA under the lie of anthropogenic climate change. If Newson survives the current recall, I need to sell my home to moron, and find a sane state led by reasonable adults.
Barely mentioned in this article but actually an extremely bad policy is the elimination of propane and natural gas appliances. This will be devastating to people who can’t afford ultra expensive electric heat for their homes and for water.
Another brick in the wall of evidence for implementing the #GreenNewDeal piece-meal. Using #DEW #Antifa arson #wildfires to evacuate the rural lands, forced migrations into ‘mega-cities’, reduce eminent domain for the High Speed Rail system, readying California for the UN biodiversity corridors, #WildLandProject made only possible by outlawing the automobile.
Arsonists Setting Many Of The Wildfires In The Western States, But Why? https://www.silverdoctors.com/headlines/world-news/arsonists-setting-many-of-the-wildfires-in-the-western-states-but-why/
Why?
v Terror – Mind control. Condition people to docilely go along with the globalist agenda … open borders, destroyed US sovereignty, United Nations intervention. #GreenNewDeal decarbonization, depopulation.
v #Wildfire terror integrated with the induced economic collapse, lab-created (CRISPR’d), released pandemics, de-funding the police, the Marxist Antifa/BLM rioting.
v Soros (CIA)-elected city strongholds creates political instability due to failed criminal prosecution, Geo-political perforation, dis-integration. Continued gun confiscation regime.
v Stolen 2020 election. Ballot harvesting the election by allowing mail-in ballots, non-citizen voting, ensuring continued oligarchic (banker-Wall Street-City of London) control.
v #Wildfire destroyed public lands aiding destruction of rural America, mega-city forced migration, reduced eminent domain conflicts for High-Speed rail, austerity sell-off of public lands, national forests. Privatization of utilities targeted because electrical generation created greenhouse gases.
You nailed it. This has nothing to do with ‘climate change’, or any other greenie nonsense. It’s another move toward technocracy. First, Goofy Gavin’s orders are an illegal abuse of executive power. Second, if the Left actually believed their own propaganda, California would be actively pursuing and promoting technologies such as anaerobic digestion of municipal waste, destructive distillation of plastics, and encouraging farms to produce their own alcohol fuel the same way farmers did prior to Prohibition.
When I ask my so called elected officials why that isn’t the case, I get no response. Why? Because those technologies easily scale, making it relatively easy for anyone to produce their own fuels for personal consumption. The main pillar of Technocracy is centralized control of everything, especially energy. The goal of Technocracy is total, granular, real time control of every facet of our lives. That goal is impossible without complete control over our access to resources.
To those intending to leave; we lost the state to these monsters because too many left instead of fighting back. As my friends who left have discovered, the state border is not a magic barrier against progressive leftism. It follows you. Do a little browsing of local news and politics in various “red” states. You’ll quickly see what I mean.
Could this be connected to his favorite “mask maker”, the chinese electric car manufacturer, BYD! Another sweet deal may be in the works for our dear great leader, Newsom!
I predict some day in the future say 2035, BYD will be the top electric car seller in California and the Newsom family will be heavily invested in the company with Newsom dealerships up and down the state!
He goes down as the worst governor in history.
The crazier part of the equation is all who vote for him and drink the poisoned green kool aid!
This is so ridiculous!
I like many Californians live in a rural area. My whole town is on propane. Many are up an down the state. If propane is banned then it will force many to move back to the overpopulated cities. Most could not afford to convert there homes to all electric. Water heaters, ranges, and dryers would all have to be converted from propane (or natural gas for the city folks) to electricity. Then the electricity cost which are already high would also go through the roof. Newsom is a grade a dip Sh!t. We need to split the state or remove NancyPolosi’s nephew from office.
Recallnewsom2020.com
Another thing that these figures don’t even mention is how dirty the Windmills and Solar Panels are to make AND after their life cycle of not producing at 100% capacity, not even close, these things are hard to dispose of and each Windmill costs the taxpayer about a Half Million each to decommission. And still there is no proof that CO2 is a greenhouse gas, this too is still speculation.
So glad I got out of California, 22 years ago (I could see the writing on the wall back then) though now in Minnesota, our governor, the dishonorable tyrant Governor Waltz seems to think California is the ideal model to govern Minnesota by, looks like I’ll be moving to North Dakota in the near future.
Thank you David. You just beautifully illustrated the final point I tried to make above in my answer to Greg Burton. There is nowhere far enough away, that progressive leftists cannot follow. You can run, but you can’t hide. Stand and fight where you are now, or end up bending the knee where ever you’ve gone a few years from now. Those are your choices.
Newsom promotes California to be the Vintage Car Capital – Encouraging re-registrations for those that cannot afford new vehicles.
Published Sept 24 at F&H https://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2020/09/newsom-promotes-california-to-be-the-vintage-car-capital/
Summary: With Governor Newsom’s latest actions to phaseout the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035 it will most likely result in California looking like Cuba in the decades ahead with vintage gas-powered vehicles being continuously re-registered each year, that are less fuel efficient, and bigger emission polluters. The California population is 45 percent (a whopping 18 million) Hispanic and African American, and they may not be in a financial position to procure new vehicles.
So, how is this legally binding? Since when can the governor legislate a brand-new law, “no new gas cars after 2035”? Is he claiming an emergency situation? Is he just virtue-signaling? Has he gone power-mad from lockdown mania so quickly? A legal opinion is required here, followed by a class-action lawsuit with assistance from Pacific Legal Foundation.
I could be wrong about this, but didn’t moonbeam pass or attempt to pass a law eliminating gas stations in California at some point in the future?
Eliminating gas powered cars is about nothing other than eliminating cars period. When the cars are gone so is your freedom of movement and independence.
Not to worry, we can all simply ride the “High Speed Rail to Nowhere” for about 15K one-way! ????
Good article and timely, however I don’t believe most American’s understand the numbers on the map. Judging by some of the arguments on twitter and other social media, they read $2,823,000M as $2.8M not as $2.8 Trillion, which is what the number actually is. Maybe strive to explain numbers more clearly to our uneducated masses. Thank you.
Once again, Governor Le Petomane has found way to screw up Calizuela even *more* than he has managed to do so far. It’s just….mind-boggling.
Executive orders can be canceled by future governors. If Californians ever get over the lies of the left, they can recover this state, but they will need to do it soon. As for gavin, this is just a ploy to add a checkmark to progressive resume. he desires to be prez, but I do not think that he is smart enough.
Gavin Is obeying his boss, the Communist United Nations. Look up the UN Agenda 21 and 2030. There you will see the world Communist goal to take away are property, and transportation, etc. etc. etc….!!!!!!
This is true…
We tried moving to Colorado, only to find that Polis & Newsom share many of the same attitudes and behaviors.
Newsom however, doesn’t have Polis sense of political balance or subtlety, and seems more willing to compromise, or take such extreme positions.
Polis does seem to emulate Newsom and we did find it curious that Colorado news media frequently reports on activities happening in California.
Denver in particular appears to becoming a mashup of San Franfreakshow, Portland and Seattle, not surprising given the Denver Eco-devo Department’s fascination with luring San Franfreakshow tech startups, touting the lower cost of living but bringing with that their progressive voting habits.
The homeless issue was also quite prevalent, which was interesting given Denver’s severe winter weather… We attributed that to the legal weed, which is a magnet for the progressive pot culture as well, further ruining the overall culture as well…
We reluctantly returned to Ventura County, figuring that we at least would have milder weather if we had to suffer the same progressive stupid politics, but since we’ve been back, Newsom & California have been the tip of the spear of the progressive governance movement.
Time to stand & fight here…