California’s continued energy failures are driven by a disconnect. The pie-in-the-sky worldview of environmentalists doesn't match the reality of what happens when a state fast-tracks its way to an energy grid controlled by unreliable, inefficient forms of energy.
The latest development in the California energy scene is that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) wants the state to directly purchase power created by renewable energy sources to avoid the rolling blackouts that have become an annual occasion in the state. According to the Associated Press, “Customers would have to pay for the new power the state buys through a new, still undetermined, charge on their electric bills.”
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Don’t worry, though, that charge wouldn’t be excessive or onerous. After all, when was the last time California steered you wrong on energy issues? Other than when it shut down efficient, clean nuclear energy plants and shunned nuclear energy altogether. Or when it demanded that everyone shift to electric vehicles when the state’s energy grid can’t support even a small percentage of electric vehicles. Or the high-speed rail train that is decades behind schedule and $95 billion over budget.
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Meanwhile, the state is also going to mandate that utility companies factor income into the electricity bills of consumers, effectively yet another wealth tax for a state already seeing a huge exodus of wealthy taxpayers. The state finds this necessary because California residents already pay 76% more than the national average for electricity. The state is plagued by self-inflicted problems created by “solutions” to the previous self-inflicted problems it tried to address.
California’s record on energy is a record of failure, all driven by a commitment to climate change hysterics and a rejection of efficient forms of energy that make environmentalists feel nice and warm and everyone else feel the effects of summer heat waves. California Democrats are regularly making their state’s energy issues worse. That trend is going to continue with each “clever” solution they come up with to fix the issue.