Xavier Becerra promises free electricity during POLITICO event in Sacramento (Screenshot)
Becerra Pitches Power Hour: Free Electricity For the Peasants
Becerra offered no concrete funding mechanism, saying only that he would work with regulators, utilities, and stakeholders
By Megan Barth, August 13, 2026 2:05 pm
Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Xavier Becerra on Wednesday unveiled his latest campaign gimmick: “Power Hour,” promising up to two hours of “free” electricity each day for millions of California households.
In a video posted to social media, Becerra declared, “Listen up: free electricity… Working families could save approximately $1,000 a year on their electricity bills. I’m looking forward to getting this done for California families when I’m in office.”
Listen up: free electricity.
It’s called Power Hour – providing up to two hours of free electricity for millions of California households.
Working families could save approximately $1,000 a year on their electricity bills.
I’m looking forward to getting this done for… pic.twitter.com/8lFAl4HjHO
— Xavier Becerra (@XavierBecerra) August 12, 2026
The proposal, rolled out at Politico’s Sacramento Summit, would supposedly shift usage to midday hours when solar generation peaks, with eligibility tied to income and household size. Becerra offered no concrete funding mechanism, saying only that he would work with regulators, utilities, and stakeholders.
Critics immediately noted the obvious: nothing is free. Costs would inevitably be shifted to other ratepayers, taxpayers, or future bills. Reality television personality and outspoken California critic Spencer Pratt wasted little time responding.
Quoting Becerra’s post, Pratt wrote: “Is anyone else sick of being treated like toddlers by these buffoons? ‘Listen up: FREE STUFF! You like free stuff peasant??? I’ll gibs you free stuff!’ This isn’t Jr High class president. You actually need to govern, like an adult. They treat us like we’re as dumb as they are.”
Pratt’s post quickly gained thousands of likes and hundreds of reposts, capturing widespread frustration with Democratic politicians who promise handouts while ignoring the policies that created the crisis.
Is anyone else sick of being treated like toddlers by these buffoons? "Listen up: FREE STUFF! You like free stuff peasant??? I'll gibs you free stuff!"
This isn't Jr High class president. You actually need to govern, like an adult. They treat us like we're as dumb as they are. https://t.co/Lh9SvOdtjA
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) August 13, 2026
California Globe has extensively documented the sky-high electricity costs that make such giveaways politically tempting. Residential rates in the Golden State hover around 32–36 cents per kilowatt-hour—nearly double the national average and the second highest rates in the country. Californians are now paying 93% more for electricity than people in the rest of the U.S.
Bills have surged roughly 39–50% in recent years, far outpacing inflation, driven by wildfire mitigation expenses loaded onto ratepayers, massive cost shifts from heavily subsidized rooftop solar programs, and the cumulative burden of Democratic climate mandates.
Just got my recent SCE electric bill
$873.09/month for a 1,500 square foot home in @GavinNewsom’s California pic.twitter.com/GGSvVtF0sN
— 🇺🇸SuperBasedInCali🇺🇸 (@SuperBasedInCa) August 9, 2026
Past California Globe reporting has repeatedly shown how one-party Democratic rule created this mess. Aggressive renewable portfolio standards, net-energy metering subsidies that transfer billions from non-solar customers to solar owners, cap-and-invest (cap-and-trade) programs, and the push for rapid electrification without adequate reliable baseload power have all contributed to soaring electric bills.
Under Governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom, and with the full support of a Democratic supermajority Legislature, policymakers prioritized green ideology over affordability and reliability. The result: Californians pay premium prices for intermittent power while utilities pass along the costs of hardening the grid against the very wildfires exacerbated by forest mismanagement and policy failures.
Becerra, a longtime Democratic insider who served as Attorney General and later as HHS Secretary, was part of the political apparatus that oversaw these policies. His “Power Hour” does nothing to reverse the underlying drivers—renewable mandates that increase system costs, restrictions on natural gas and nuclear, and a regulatory environment that rewards utility spending with guaranteed returns.
As one energy analyst observed in related coverage, midday free power might soak up excess solar but risks higher rates elsewhere if utilities recoup lost revenue. Republican candidate Steve Hilton has already dismissed the idea as “stupid,” arguing it distracts from the need to actually lower rates through more natural gas generation and breaking up utility monopolies. In response on social media , Hilton referred to Becerra as an “idiot” and the power hour as a gimmick.
Listen up Becerra: you're an idiot if you think people will fall for this insulting gimmick.
'Free' electricity but only 1pm-3pm. Rest of day: highest bills in the country because of Becerra's climate posturing.
Enough! I will cut your bills in half by using our natural gas… https://t.co/W87qFMRdxa
— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) August 13, 2026
Meanwhile, ordinary Californians continue struggling with bills that have become a significant household burden, with nearly one in five customers in arrears.
Becerra’s pitch fits a familiar pattern: Democrats create scarcity and high prices through heavy-handed regulation and green mandates, then campaign on temporary discounts or freebies as the solution. California Globe has chronicled this cycle for years. Until policymakers confront the real causes—decades of Democratic energy policy that sacrificed reliability and affordability on the altar of climate theater—Californians will keep paying the price, free Power Hour or not.
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Hey, it worked for Mandami the commie!
Free electricity for two hours a day, and then jacked up rates for the other 22 hours.
I don’t see how people could be so stupid as to fall for this, but given how dumb California voters are, I would not be surprised.
Next up, free buses.
Becerra is a corrupt doofus.
Whenever anyone on the left says “free” it’s big, fat lie, you need to glue a frying pan to your posterior whenever a communist says that because you’re about to get screwed.
“Just got my recent SCE electric bill…
$873.09/month for a 1,500 square foot home in @GavinNewsom’s California pic.twitter.com/GGSvVtF0sN”
Not to rub it in, but my highest ever SCE electric bill was $70.00 in my 1000 sq ft house.
However, I have a swamp cooler and some fans, no heat pump nor air conditioning unit.
Of course, the kids are long gone (no non stop electronic bullshit) and only one woman who has has cohabitated (in or out of wedlock) with me spent forever in the bathroom with megawattage curling iron and hair blower spinning the disk on the electric meter, but that was more than a couple decades ago.
As long as these low info California voters think it’s “free”. They will vote for him. With the Democrat cheating machine in this state being what it is; Brace yourself for Gavin Newsom II – The Idiotic version.. Vote Republican. Please.
Would like to hear more from Hilton on the issues. Coverage seems to always gravitate to the Dems.
Guess who controls the narratves; Mainstream lies.
Xavier Becerra and his Democrat socialist comrades want to turn California into another communist hellhole like Cuba where power outages are a daily common occurrence. Can you imagine what will happen to the electrical grid once it relies mostly on green power and everything will be running on electricity per the Democrat socialist’s loony mandates? Becerra’s promise of “free” electricity for the struggling pheasants means nothing when it won’t be available when they need it.
Here in the PRK, bond measures tend to pass by between 52-60%. Native Californians don’t vote for them. Democrats here (really democratic socialists, that’s what the party has become) have imported enough Third Worlders who always vote for largesse from the public coffers that they only need to throw in a few thousand phantom votes to get the win. That’s also how they’ve achieved, and maintain, a supermajority in the legislature. That’s why this ridiculous ploy has a good chance of working.
On top of all the government created and inspired utility scams, I now suspect there’s another factor in Kalifornia’s high energy prices, that is probably going on in other states as well. I recently had a dispute with SCE that involved the CPUC. Our bill went from $55 in April, to $154 in May, to $225 in June, $269 in July, and is shaping up to be around $290 this month – even though temps are dropping now and we’re actually using the AC less. Our usage actually didn’t change much from April to July (it’s already hot here in April – we aren’t far from Death Valley). I “won” the fight, by the way. I forced SCE into sending out a tech, who determined that the ‘smart’ meter was defective. He changed it out. SCE then responded with a letter telling me that the defective meter was the reason our bill had been so low previously. I can’t help but notice that our bill has been raised to almost exactly the supposed average for a two person household in the state. They’ve basically taken the little bit of discretionary income we had. Can you say “personalized, dynamic pricing scam” three times fast? With all the customer data the utility has access to, from its own ‘smart grid’ and other sources, all it would take is an AI controlled subroutine hidden in the network, and your meter is no longer telling you what you’re using. Instead it’s ‘reading’ the amount the algorithm has decided you can afford to pay. If my suspicions are correct, the smart meters and smart grid aren’t just about data collection and control; they’re yet another wealth extraction scheme.
Just received an invitation to a public hearing on a rate increase for my electricity. Is this in anticipation of the free hour ploy for votes?
May his kingdom stretch far and wide. King Becerra knows how to please his subjects with freebies that no one thought about before. Next decree? Free tacos for lunch. Add your own meat and veggies.
Becerra; dumb as a bag of coal. A total tool of a moron.
‘It may seem contradictory for the state and wealthy liberals—many undoubtedly brainwashed dupes—to support organizations and individuals calling for abolishing capitalism and advocating the most severe form of Marxist ideology.
As the late Gary Allen so eloquently pointed out (None Dare Call It Conspiracy), socialism is a perfect mechanism for controlling humanity.”
“If one understands that socialism is not a share-the-wealth program, but is in reality a method to consolidate and control the wealth, then the seeming paradox of superrich men promoting socialism becomes no paradox at all. Instead it becomes the logical, even the perfect tool of power-seeking megalomaniacs. Communism, or more accurately, socialism, is not a movement of the downtrodden masses, but of the economic elite.”
https://archives.infowars.com/black-lives-matter-progressive-financed-vanguard-of-socialist-control/
If they didn’t drive up the cost of electricity with their communist tactics like the global warming scam, people could afford to run their houses like others do who live in America. High Dollar Wind and solar power being mandated to the utilities by the PUC which is run by the communist one party rule which Bacceria is part of, have made living in this state almost impossible for many people.
Do we get to choose which two hours? Where I live 5pm to 8pm is outrageous. A diesel generator would be cheaper
It’s about time we start attacking, very publically, the Democrat voters in California who continue to vote for these Democrat politicians who have turned the Golden State into the Communist State. I don’t care about their social status, income level, immigration status, or protected class – if they plan to vote Democrat in light of what that means, I take it as a personal affront! Oh, I knpw, they’ll respond with the programmed “Trump Response”, but compare Trump’s record to the Democrat Party’s record in California. Any further discussion proves our point — they are responsible for the s–thole California has become and they are stupid or on-the-take for themselves only, the rest of us be damned.