Category Archives: Energy

CA, Economy, Energy, Farms, food, Housing, Planning, Politics

California’s clashes over business regulation rage on as legislative session nears end

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By Dan Walters : calmatters – excerpt (excerpt)

Back room dealers

Keep an eye on these 5 deals as California lawmakers close out the legislative session

Assembly Bill 2564, carried by Assemblymember Christopher Ward, …would prohibit retailers from engaging in “surveillance pricing,” which is a form of algorithmic pricing in which sellers use personal information to tailor prices to specific consumers….

Assembly Bill 1776, authored by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, .. would broaden California’s anti-monopoly Cartwright Act, first enacted in 1907 to allow civil or criminal actions against corporations that monopolize markets….is aimed at collusion between two or more corporations to stifle competition and raise prices. But AB 1776 would also sanction actions against corporations that become dominant without colluding….The change was recommended by the California Law Revision Commission to curb monopolistic behavior framers of the original law never envisioned. It is backed by a long list of consumer advocates and unions…

RELATED:
Keep an eye on these 5 deals as California lawmakers close out the legislative session

Who does your representative work for?  How much help are the voters getting and how much help are our elected  representatives selling to the highest bidder?

Economy, Energy

Becerra says he’s figured out how to reduce electric bills. With a small catch.

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By Anabel Sosa, Senior California politics reporter : sfgate -excerpt

During midday in California, the state’s solar grid produces so much energy that, sometimes, it can’t even use it all. It’s a good problem to have, and one that the leading Democratic candidate governor thinks could be a boon to low-income households. At a recent summit hosted by Politico, Xavier Becerra said he wants to offer free electricity from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for those who qualify, possibly saving them upward of $1,000 annually…

Becerra’s program would apply to a few million households that already qualify for the state’s CARE/FERA program. Those customers receive reduced rates based on their income. A family of four earning less than $82,500 a year, for instance, would meet the requirements.

Texans have speculated online whether or not the free hours actually lighten the load for them financially. There’s no available data on the success of the program so far, which appears to have debuted for the first time in 2012.

This summer, the Australian government began offering its version of this initiative, which is most similar to Becerra’s “power hour” plan because it is also designed around midday power use. The program does not state any specific guaranteed annual savings, but it gives users three hours of free electricity per day… (more)

He must know that Governors set the rates through the CPUC.

Economy, Energy, Politics

Your PG&E rates are about to spike again. California pols have three ways to stem the bleeding

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By Mark Toney : sfchronicle – excerpt (audio)

PG&E claims its rates are stabilizing. The numbers say otherwise.

According to an independent assessment by the California Public Utilities Commission’s Public Advocates Office, the state’s advocate for ratepayers, the average PG&E customer could pay $840 more annually by 2030, on top of the 69% rate increase during the past decade.

As California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom consider key electricity affordability legislation, including utility wildfire liability reform, state leaders should look beyond PG&E’s claims of rate stabilization and focus on the actual costs California residents and businesses are expected to pay.

PG&E is seeking to charge California ratepayers billions for outstanding costs, which will soon show up on our electricity bills. The utility has also requested and is expected to collect on several additional pending proposals to raise rates over the coming years and has $1.05 billion sitting in memorandum accounts that will be billed to ratepayers. This includes billions of dollars for wildfire mitigation, grid upgrades and other investments — as well as the hefty profit margins the utility is allowed to collect.

Some of these investments are necessary. Yet the independent Public Advocates Office found that PG&E has a pattern of chronic overspending.

Unless legislators and Newsom act, there is no end in sight.

Three bills before the Legislature in August could make a substantial difference in protecting your wallet…

  1. Senate Bill 905 from state Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, would stop rewarding utilities for overspending on infrastructure.
  2. SB1098 from state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Alhambra (Los Angeles County), would restore transparency to the rate-setting process.
  3.  SB886 from state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-Chula Vista (San Diego County), would ensure the artificial intelligence economy pays its own way… (more) 

Mark Toney is executive director of The Utility Reform Network…More on PG&E rates

Economy, Energy, Politics, water

Monterey Park blares a warning to the AI industry

by Shum Preston : thevoiceofsanfrancisco – excerpt

Some cities are just saying no to computer overload and a lot of others are considering limiting the tech overlords.

The tiny Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park found the AI industry’s pain point in this month’s elections. Voters there took a dramatic step by enacting a permanent moratorium on data centers.

AI executives should look south from their San Francisco offices and pay close attention to this warning. They are about to launch some of the biggest IPOs in history, with record valuations. But these IPOs are coming just as public opposition is growing to the data centers they rely upon.

This could be one of the most important results from this primary election season, even if the Monterey Park moratorium itself won’t have a direct impact. Only one facility was proposed in the town, and it was already canceled by public opposition. But the vote showed that the political weakness of the AI and data center industries can translate into real-world losses.

Even worse, this is likely to be just the first vote of many across the country. AI executives need to toss out their broken political playbook around data centers and improve their pitch to the American public. They need to deal with the perception that they are spiking electricity bills for regular people by outcompeting households for energy…(more)

CEQA, deregulated housing bills, Energy, Housing

One Bay Area housing trend is becoming impossible to miss

By Kasia Pawlowska : sfgate – excerpt

The AI gold rush is rewriting Bay Area housing

A recently listed house in San Francisco’s Duboce Triangle promises “the perfect backdrop for your new life” — one that “will redefine how you live.” The property in question is 160 Noe St.: a fully renovated 1907 Edwardian on a tree-lined slow street featuring three bedrooms, two bathrooms and 2,495 square feet full of Calacatta marble, designer lighting and custom woodwork. Listed for $2,995,000, the home has another standout characteristic..

The seller will consider Anthropic or OpenAI stock as payment.

That single line in an otherwise typical luxury listing may be the most succinct summary of what’s been going on in San Francisco for the past two years. It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago, the city’s obituary was being written in real time. Office vacancies soared. Retailers fled downtown. Then, of course, there was the doom loop… (more)

San Francisco may be proud of its role in making California the most expensive state in the union. Perfect for millionaires and whoever they need to augment their life of leisure that is not yet handled by AI and personal robots.

CA, CEQA, Energy, Farms, food, Politics, water

Calif. farmers bulldoze acres of apple trees after Martinelli’s ends contracts

By Susana Guerrero : sfgate – excerpt

FILE: California apple farmers in Watsonville are bulldozing their orchards after Martinelli’s abruptly canceled their contracts. The company will continue to grow and source applies in the Pajaro Valley.

Karell Reader’s heart sank when she saw acres of apple trees piled up on her neighbor’s Watsonville farm last month. Her neighbor used to sell apples to California cider empire S. Martinelli & Company, but he was forced to bulldoze dozens of apple trees after the company canceled his contracts…

Lookout reported that the shift in vendors could be a strategic financial move by Martinelli’s as the company looks to find cheaper apples from out of state. According to the most recent Crop Report for Santa Cruz County, apples cost about $400 per ton in 2024. Comparatively, apples from Washington cost $135 a ton that same year. Farmers also relied on Martinelli’s for labor, equipment and chemicals for pest control, according to the Lookout… (more)

Another loss for California farmers who are operating the most expensive state in the unions. How much more of our state’s agricultural business will be replaced by water and power hungry AI computer centers in the name of progress?

Energy, Politics

SENATE ENERGY COMMITTEE BLOCKS PG&E BREAKUP BILL

By Megan Stephens : davisvanguard – excerpt

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Sen. Scott Wiener’s effort to give cities like San Francisco a clearer path to cut ties with PG&E stalled this week after the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee failed to advance SB 875, legislation aimed at reforming the state process for creating local public utilities.

SB 875 would have sought to unrig what supporters described as a broken California Public Utilities Commission process that prevents cities like San Francisco from leaving PG&E and forming their own public utilities. The bill was the first of its kind to pass even one committee. It aimed to reform procedures at the California Public Utilities Commission to allow cities that wish to exit PG&E to establish their own public utilities while providing more affordable and reliable energy to residents…

In 2019, San Francisco began trying to exit PG&E, but in the years since, it has faced repeated delays at the CPUC due to what supporters called a broken process rigged by private utilities, especially PG&E. The current valuation proceeding was filed with the CPUC in July 2021. Even with a strict 180-day timeline required by law, PG&E has successfully drawn the CPUC process out to more than four and a half years… (more)

CA, Energy, Politics, water

East Bay city hits pause on data center development

By TRD staff :  therealdeal – excerpt

Electricity and water requirements prompt council vote for temporary ban

Oakley, a city in Contra Costa County, has become the first municipality in the Bay Area city to impose a temporary ban on new data centers.

The Oakley City Council’s unanimous vote for a 45‑day moratorium halts all new land‑use applications for data centers, giving officials time to evaluate their long‑term impact, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The ban can be extended in phases for up to two years, allowing the city to craft zoning and environmental rules before the next wave of proposals arrives.

City Attorney Derek Cole said the measure will allow Oakley to “study, deliberate and determine the acceptable scope” of future development. The move follows public opposition to the Bridgehead Industrial Project, where developer JB2 Partners withdrew plans for a data center near Highway 160 after residents raised concerns about power and water consumption.

Council Member Shannon Shaw emphasized the need for a deliberate approach, noting that the city wants to “do it right” before committing to large‑scale infrastructure…(more)