After Pushback, Gavin Newsom Cuts Much of his Electric Bill Affordability Plan. What’s Next?

Source: Sacramento Bee |  By Ari Plachta

It appears increasingly likely that the mad dash to finish this year’s legislative session in the state Capitol will not produce meaningful relief for Californians from their sky-high electric bills. That’s after Gov. Gavin Newsom walked back from what experts consider the most significant piece of his initial energy affordability plan, according to two sources familiar with closed-door negotiations without authorization to speak publicly. Newsom proposed to lower monthly bills through a financial process that faced opposition from major utilities and their workers. Called securitization, it would lower interest rates on utilities’ long-term capital investments and cut shareholder profits in the process. Consumer advocates called the negotiations on electric bill affordability an “epic battle” between the consumer advocates pushing for ratepayer relief and utilities backed by Wall Street.

The Utility Reform Network (TURN) recently released polling data that found 53% of California voters support stricter government regulation of utilities and 84% support limits to how much utilities can raise prices on ratepayers per year. “The public is on our side,” said Mark Toney, executive director of the organization. “I expect policy makers will have renewed courage to do the right thing and release a package that is significant... has immediate bill reductions and can stand up to the utilities.”