Source: TIME.com | By Simon Shah

“Undergrounding is an effective, but extraordinarily expensive mitigation [strategy,]” says Katy Morsony, staff attorney at the Utility Reform Network (TURN), a utility consumer advocacy organization in California. “It needs to be used strategically, so that it's providing the most risk reduction where it's deployed.” …

TURN has been advocating for cover conductors, which Morsony says provide multi-layered insulation to protect lines from accidental contact with trees and brush. Morsony says the cover conductors protect against a number of different wildfire causes and are faster to install and more cost-effective than undergrounding.

While the exact cause of the wildfire remains unknown, Hawaiian Electric is not the first electric company to find itself facing potential liability in the aftermath of climate-related disasters. As electric companies across the U.S. begin to take steps to reduce the risks of utility-fueled fires, experts tell TIME that modernizing the electric grid and planning for extreme weather events—including having power turn-off plans and preemptively updating utility equipment—needs to be a priority in an increasingly changing climate.

Source: Mercury News | By Mercury News and East Bay Times Editorial Boards

The regulators should carefully consider charges leveled by watchdog The Utility Reform Network (TURN), which contends that PG&E continues to avoid cheaper, effective alternative approaches, including insulating power lines in high-risk wildfire areas. TURN executive director Mark Toney says undergrounding power lines is too expensive and takes an inordinately long time to complete. He maintains that Southern California Edison’s and San Diego Gas and Electric’s use of insulated lines is cost-effective and reduces the need to shut off power when tree limbs fall on electric lines

State regulators must carefully scrutinize PG&E’s wildfire-safety strategy shift.

The giant utility has a long and criminal history of putting profits before safety. And the state has an equally long, ugly history of failing to perform its oversight role. This time regulators must get it right.

Source: ABC7 News | By Lyanne Melendez

"Right now today, there is no technology and no automotive manufacturer whose cars can actually send power beyond the home and up into the grid," said Mark Toney, of TURN (The Utility Reform Network).

It's been said before, California's power grid will have to expand in order to meet the demand for more energy. PG&E's CEO Patricia Poppe has come up with an "unconventional" idea, using electric cars to send excess power back to the grid to prevent blackouts.

Source: ABC7 News | By Tim Johns

Instead of the vegetation management program, PG&E plans on relying on other fire prevention tools [like burying power lines].

"That is going to cost billions and billions of dollars and take well over a decade," said Mark Toney, of The Utility Reform Network.

A shift in strategy for PG&E in their battle against wildfires. After four years and $2 billion in money spent, the company says it's moving away from its enhanced vegetation management program….

The announcement is unwelcome news to many who worry it could lead to more unnecessary wildfires.

Source: Utility Dive | By Kavya Balaraman

SCE’s experience with wildfire mitigation has shown that insulating overhead power lines is a quick and cheap option to prevent utility-caused fires, according to Mark Toney, executive director of ratepayer group The Utility Reform Network.

On other hand, TURN has concerns about the revenue requirement increase that SCE is requesting as part of its general rate case application.

“We cannot solve the climate crisis exclusively on the backs of electricity customers because it’s the most regressive way to fund climate change [action]. We need to look for things like income tax, and state and federal funds, that have a more fair distribution of who pays,” Toney said.

In a general rate case application with the CPUC in May, SCE asked for a $10.3 billion base revenue requirement for 2025 — a 23% increase over its 2024 requested revenue requirement — followed by increases of roughly $600 million, $700 million and $700 million, respectively, in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Source: Desert Sun | By Wendy Fry

“The (utility commission) has to work out all those details and the devil is in the details,” said TURN’s Executive Director Mark Toney.

California’s electric bills — already some of the highest in the nation — are rising, but regulators are debating a new plan to charge customers based on their income level.

Typically what you pay for electricity depends on how much you use. But the state’s three largest electric utilities — Southern California Edison Company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company — have proposed a plan to charge customers not just for how much energy they use, but also based on their household income.

Source: GV Wire| By Nancy Price

“The most important part is bill impact. What’s the bill impact going to be? And so, you know, because a lot of times people focus on how much is the charge without realizing that, you know, that’s only half the equation. The other half is that your usage charge is going down,” Toney said.

California faces a multi-pronged dilemma: the state wants to wean residents off of carbon-based fuels, including natural gas for home heating and cooking, to reach its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But that’s been a hard sell while electricity continues to cost significantly more than natural gas.

Source: CalMatters | By Wendy Fry

Among several alternatives, one comes from the Utility Reform Network (TURN), a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization headquartered in San Francisco.

Its proposal, filed with the regulatory agency, also calls for an income-based fixed charge, but at fixed fees much lower than what the utilities want.

The group says the utilities already profit enough from customer fees.

“The (utility commission) has to work out all those details and the devil is in the details,” said TURN’s Executive Director Mark Toney.

Typically what you pay for electricity depends on how much you use. But the state’s three largest electric utilities — Southern California Edison Company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company — have proposed a plan to charge customers not just for how much energy they use, but also based on their household income. Their proposal is one of several state regulators received designed to accommodate a new law to make energy less costly for California’s lowest-income customers.

Source: GV Wire | By Nancy Price

“We’re worried that they’re going to get their undergrounding proposal approved. That’s why we’ve launched a social media campaign called, faster, cheaper. We’ve been doing a lot of our own messaging campaigns to try to get the word out,” he said.

This month’s run of triple-digit temperatures — seven so far, with at least a week’s worth on the way — will have many Fresnans opening their utility bills this summer with trepidation.

And, a proposed 32% rate hike for Pacific Gas and Electric that the California Public Utilities Commission is pondering would make those big bills even bigger in the future.

Source: LA Times | By Sammy Roth

This story originally published in Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

No matter how many times I write about renewable energy — about sprawling solar farms, towering wind turbines and lengthy power lines carrying clean electricity to faraway cities — there’s one question I get asked again and again and again:

Why do we need all that industrial infrastructure when we can put solar panels on rooftops and parking lots instead?

It’s a great question — and one I attempt to answer in my latest story, published this week….

Big surprise: There are no easy answers. But there are some baseline realities that I hope you’ll consider.

Source: KNEWS | By Shannon Osaka

“In the last decade, electricity prices in California have skyrocketed,” said Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney for The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization headquartered in San Francisco. In the past 10 years, Freedman explained, non-discounted electricity rates at PG&E have increased 84 percent; SDG&E rates have gone up 137 percent.

Supporters argue that the plan will help the state electrify by lowering costs for residents that might not otherwise afford it. Critics, including many California residents, say that it will eat into progress on energy efficiency and that it is unfair to those who are conserving energy.

Source: KVPR | By Adam Beam

“There's nothing free here, it's just a question of what's the most efficient way to develop resources,” said Matthew Freedman, staff attorney with The Utility Reform Network, a group that advocates for affordable and reliable energy. “It’s our hope that this arrangement will result in lower total costs across the state.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to buy massive amounts of renewable energy to help keep the lights on. The idea is to use the state's purchasing power to convince private companies to build largescale power plants that run off of heat from underground sites and strong winds blowing off the coast — the kinds of power that utility companies have not been buying because it's too expensive and would take too long to build.

Source: The Washington Post | By Shannon Osaka

“In the last decade, electricity prices in California have skyrocketed,” said Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney for The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization headquartered in San Francisco. In the past 10 years, Freedman explained, non-discounted electricity rates at PG&E have increased 84 percent; SDG&E rates have gone up 137 percent.

Supporters argue that the plan will help the state electrify by lowering costs for residents that might not otherwise afford it. Critics, including many California residents, say that it will eat into progress on energy efficiency and that it is unfair to those who are conserving energy.

Source: KTVU | By Tom Vacar

Consumer advocates are also not pleased with the ruling.

"PG&E, once again, was not held accountable for its actions," said Mark Toney, director of The Utility Reform Network.

PG&E has agreed to pay $45 million to support organizations that continue the rebuilding and assistance of those impacted by the fire.

It has also agreed to a $5 million penalty to be directed to Shasta County.

Source: The Press Democrat | By Marisa Endicott

“We’re concerned that PG&E is not appropriately considering alternatives,” said Iain Fisher with the Public Advocates Office, which advocates for ratepayers at the CPUC. Fisher is particularly wary of the almost 8,000 miles slated for after 2026.

By comparison, Southern California Edison is also burying power lines but is much more focused on covered conductor work, which adds a protective layer to overhead wires.

While burying power lines has undeniable long-term benefits, critics point out that utilities have incentive to favor such projects as capital investments because they increase profits for shareholders, whereas something like vegetation management is just a business expense.

And, with so much focus on undergrounding, some worry there is less capacity to focus on short-term and medium-term system upkeep and wildfire prevention.

Source: The American Prospect | By Kalena Thomhave

“As one technology is replaced by another one, we have to make sure that we are [forward-thinking] in ensuring that everyone has access to these technologies,” says Constance Slider Pierre, organizing director at The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in California. That’s part of what TURN is now advocating for at the CPUC—not just regulation of phone calls, but all ways that prisoners communicate with their friends and families.

On the heels of groundbreaking federal prison phone call legislation, public utility commissions across the country can also regulate exploitative prison telecoms.

Phone calls and other communications can give prisoners the encouragement they need to go to their classes, put in their time, and ultimately get home. The research bears this out: Family support is associated with reduced recidivism and better adjustment to life post-release.

Source: SiliconValley.com | By George Avalos

“Christmas came early for Wall Street,” said Mark Toney, executive director of the consumer group The Utility Reform Network, also known as TURN. “PG&E is focusing far too much on profits and far too little on affordable monthly bills.”

PG&E’s profits jumped during the first three months of 2023, a rise that coincided with big increases in monthly bills that frustrated some customers reeling from a cold, wet winter. Higher costs could continue into the year even as the days lengthen and turn warmer.

Source: Inside Climate News | By Emma Foehringer Merchant

“Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney at The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a consumer advocacy group that said the commission did not go far enough to address the cost-shift for non-solar customers, said the lawsuit is premature because commissioners have not responded to the rehearing request the groups filed in January. And he expects the case will face steep odds in winning its “preferred policy outcomes.” 

“The courts have typically been very reluctant to second-guess factual determinations made by the CPUC given the complexity of the issues,” Freedman said in an email.”

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Working Group, and the Protect Our Communities Foundation allege that California utility regulators, who in December approved a policy change that would significantly lower compensation for new rooftop solar projects, erred in their decision by not properly accounting for all of the costs and benefits of those systems.

Source: GV Wire | By Brian Phelps

“Over the next four years (PG&E) is requesting a 50% increase, that is their request. This is not speculation,” Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, told GV Wire. “They have put billions and billions of dollars on the table… to generate enormous profits and get a rate of return of 10%.”

Fresno area ratepayers will start paying as much as 50 cents a kilowatt hour in June and could see jumps to as much as $1 kWh over the next five years…. Already burdened by some of the nation’s highest power rates, steep future hikes could deal crippling blows to Valley residents and businesses alike.

Source: NRDC.org | By Sylvie Ashford & Mohit Chhabra

Low-income Californians will start saving between $10 and $40 in electricity bills each month if our proposal is adopted.

NRDC and The Utility Reform Network submitted an electric rate design proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission to promote equity and encourage beneficial electrification. This is the first stage in a regulatory process to implement income-based fixed charges.