Power Plant at Shasta Dam. (Photo: US Bureau of Reclamation)
California Has Sacrificed its Energy Stability on the Altar of Green Energy ideology
The average California household is paying more than $3,200 annually just to turn the lights
By Melissa Melendez, May 24, 2024 2:55 am
State leaders’ energy mandates mean higher electricity prices for Californians.
If you heard angry shouts of protest last month, it was likely your neighbors opening their electricity bills. These echoes of protest reverberated even more loudly in March when PG&E proudly proclaimed record-breaking profits for 2023. Its announcement struck a particularly sour chord among already struggling customers, given that the California Public Utility Commission gave the utility company the green light for a staggering 25% rate hike — a bitter pill to swallow, especially in the face of soaring energy prices and nationwide inflation. But while many may instinctively point accusatory fingers at this utility giant, the real architects of this painful reality are not the board members of PG&E but instead our leaders who walk the hallowed halls of Sacramento. These politicians cling stubbornly to their allegiance to costly and unreliable green energy mandates, turning a stubborn blind eye to proven and more affordable alternatives, such as nuclear energy and natural gas.
For well over a decade, California’s politicians have tinkered with the state’s energy market, pulling strings to mandate and subsidize the adoption of renewable sources like wind and solar. While this might sound like a noble endeavor on the surface, the reality is far less rosy. Taxpayers are left footing the bill for these subsidies while consumers face the harsh reality of ever-increasing electricity and natural gas costs.
Indeed, these pro-green energy policies have led to exorbitant utility rates far above the national average. For perspective, Californians shell out a staggering 32 cents per kilowatt-hour due to these expensive policies. This rate stands in stark contrast to the national average of 18 cents. A study by Energy Sage calculates that the average California household is paying more than $3,200 annually just to turn the lights.
PG&E, in its own right, is not innocent in this affair, charging an even heftier 40 cents per kilowatt-hour, most likely pricing in the costs of their lawsuit-driven bankruptcy. Yet, despite these eye-watering costs, the state’s relentless march towards renewable energy sources has made the problem worse, with renewables accounting for up to 40% of energy production in 2021. A move that has only caused prices to go even higher.
Governor Gavin Newsom and the legislature have not shied away from doubling down on their green energy crusade, enshrining in law mandates that 60% of the state’s electricity generation be renewable by 2030 and a staggering 90% by 2035. However, the glaring irony lies in the fact that many of these politicians will be long gone and termed out of office by the time these mandates become a reality, conveniently avoiding any accountability for the unattainable goals they set.
Meanwhile, nuclear energy, a proven and reliable zero-emission source, has been relegated to the back burner, shunned by the environmentalists who have the full attention of the majority party. Nuclear energy’s share of electricity generation has dwindled to a mere 8%. Even more frustrating, hydroelectric power, a historically dependable and cost-effective source, has been left to wither, with dams either languishing or being shuttered entirely.
In a desperate bid to try to please everyone, lawmakers thought it would be a good idea to propose a solution to base electricity bills on income. This quick fix is like putting a Band-Aid on a massive wound. It is not dealing with the problems causing our electricity bills to skyrocket: there’s not enough power to go around, and we are relying too much on expensive renewable energy sources. This half-baked solution might make things worse, creating even more shortages and higher prices, making people feel there is no point in trying to save energy if their costs are going to continue to rise.
While PG&E certainly bears culpability for its deferred maintenance and negligence in improving transmission lines, the lion’s share of the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the state itself, which has crafted a regulatory framework that prioritizes renewables at the expense of reliability. By neglecting nuclear, hydroelectric, and gas-powered plants, California has effectively sacrificed its energy stability on the altar of green energy ideology.
It is time for California’s leaders to wake up from their green energy fantasy and refocus their efforts on restoring reliable sources like dams, nuclear facilities, and gas plants. This reckless green energy experiment has only served to drive prices skyward, squander taxpayer dollars, and leave consumers in the dark —literally and figuratively. It is time to put pragmatism ahead of ideology and prioritize affordability and reliability in our energy policy for the betterment of all Californians.
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All so true. The state and federal government leaders are governing against the will of the people. Most of the current “elected” officials are a result of widespread voter fraud made possible by mail in voting and no identification requirement. The majority of citizens are not in support of the “Green Energy Agenda” and climate change crisis hoax. Never let a crisis go to waste and if there is no crisis, make one up!
Excellent article, Melissa. You nailed it.
BTW, my PG&E Tier 1 rate is currently just over 42 cents. I won’t find out what my new Tier 2 rate is until I have to water the yard with my well pump and turn on the A/C. Wish me luck.
Germany was once a word leader in science and technology but that country has been hijacked by environmental Über-extremists. This resulted in Germany closing all its nuclear power plants. Germans had to resort to tearing down their fences and burning the wood so they would not freeze to death in the winter.
Just wait until all Californians are forced to drive inefficient electric vehicles while waiting for the sun to shine or the wind to blow so they can charge them. California is suicidal.
“Climate Fetish” Book– An urban myth is a fictional tale or conspiracy theory that circulates widely, is told and retold and presumed true by mere repetition. Urban myths are spread and illuminated in mass media, and become part of popular culture. Urban myths circulate from no singular source and can survive as fearmongering news items. Myth-making eco-propagandists have become mainstream news media assets. Urban myths can be dangerous propaganda that causes civic alarm and paranoia often for nefarious political advantage. Examples are the global Y2K internet collapse, white privilege, Russian collusion, World War III and endless doomsday scenarios. For over a half century, environmentalists have menaced us with fear-mongering scenarios of man-made ecological apocalypse. The environmental movement is the most densely-organized movement in human history. There are over 15,000 environmental nonprofits in the U.S. Having run out of green campaign grievances for their tax-exempt fundraising, radical eco-groups have come up with the most fantastic, intractable and theoretical problem of all – controlling dynamic, natural global climate variabilities (atmospheric thermodynamic radiative forcing). In scapegoating climate change for every inexplicable natural phenomenon and natural disaster, green-government tyranny would subvert capitalism itself with “climate austerity.” Partisan green-government regulations inflate the costs of goods, services, activities, food, and energies.
Yes Paul! And the myths are aided by millions of global useful idiots whose fervent adherence to climate mythology checks every box in anthropology’s definition of what constitutes religious behavior.
At least once a week our local newspaper prints a letter to the editor wherein the letter writer proclaims that climate change is the greatest existential threat to mankind. I could write a series of books discussing legitimate threats to mankind and climate would never be mentioned.
Yes, Fed Up. Former PM Angela Merkel and her woke globalist policies have led to the ruination of Germany. Germany is now supporting the illegitimate International Criminal Court (ICC) and has declared that Israel’s Benjamin Netenyahu will be arrested if he enters Germany:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-slams-germany-for-saying-itd-comply-with-icc-warrants-against-israeli-leaders/
Yes, Raymond. Germany has a long and sordid history regarding its treatment of Jewish people. In fact that history is beyond sordid. It has been horrific.
It’s not as if this outcome was unforeseeable. Like a sugar high, everyone knows that that the good taste and feeling will inevitably lead to a crash. I worked in this space and witnessed plenty of people cautioning that the legislature and governor for the last 20 years this would happen, but instead of adopting a healthy diet, they went for the candy of self-congratulation.
It’s the criminal Democrat mafia that controls this state that has purposely abandoned energy independence to further the failed green energy ideology to better control Californians? No doubt most of them are getting payoffs to do so from nefarious sources like the CCP and WEF globalists?
Good riddance to Melissa Melendez, the bigoted, bought-and-paid for oil shill that nobody in Sacramento will miss. May she never hold office again, and may respectable platforms stop publishing her solution-free rantings.