By Nicole Nixon, SACRAMENTO BEE
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article312171922.html#storylink=cpy
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed what he described as a “big, beautiful” energy and climate package Friday that he pledged will save Californians billions of dollars on utility bills and gas prices, which average among the highest in the country and have become an urgent political liability for Democrats.
It reauthorizes the state’s signature climate program, now called Cap-and-Invest, which subsidizes clean energy projects by making companies pay for their climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. It is now extended through 2045 and remains largely as-is.
The package will jumpstart new drilling in oil-rich Kern County, a significant concession in Newsom’s war with the oil and gas industry driven by the imminent closure of two of the state’s eight major refineries.
As part of the deal, the governor secured an annual $1 billion commitment for high-speed rail, a sorely needed boost for the behind-schedule, over-budget project that has become a Republican talking point for California’s failures and a target of President Donald Trump.
The changes provide a window for the Democratic governor to talk about tackling clean energy and affordability if he launches a 2028 presidential bid as expected.
Newsom said the package includes “the biggest electricity bill refunds in a decade” thanks to an expansion of a twice-yearly utility bill credit through Cap-and-Invest.
“Millions of Californians will soon start saving billions on their energy costs, and the savings don’t stop there — we’re stabilizing the state’s gasoline supply to avert severe price spikes at the pump, and we’re making it easier to build the abundant clean energy we need to keep bills lower,” he said in a statement ahead of the bill signing.
“On top of all that, we’re doubling down on our best tool to combat Trump’s assaults on clean air — Cap-and-Invest — by making polluters pay for projects that support our most-impacted communities.”
The package includes legislation that would allow California to more easily trade power with nearby states, a move that aims to reduce energy price spikes but that environmental groups say makes the state more reliant on energy produced from fossil fuels. It also puts customers of large for-profit electric companies on the hook for $9 billion to replenish the state’s wildfire fund.
It drew mostly mixed reviews from Capitol watchers: environmental groups opposed new oil wells, oil industry groups wanted fewer offshore regulations and consumer advocates are skeptical about how much it will actually save ratepayers.
But many of those groups came together Friday at the Morrison Planetarium in San Francisco to celebrate Newsom’s signing the grand compromise into law.
“We are doubling down on collaboration to bolster climate action, sustain climate action and increase access to cheaper, cleaner energy,” said Katelyn Roedner Sutter with the Environmental Defense Fund. “Naysayers claim we cannot have all three, but California has demonstrated time and again that we can.”
Still, Jamie Court with Consumer Watchdog called the package “an utter sham.”
“The replenishing of the state’s wildfire fund to protect negligent utilities with $9 billion will come right out of ratepayers’ pockets,” he said. “The move to a Western regional grid will give regional power traders the power to increase electricity prices free of state control and anti-price gouging laws.”
In the face of Trump administration attacks on clean energy projects, Newsom and other officials framed it as a recommitment to the state’s climate agenda that puts affordability higher on the priority list.
The six-bill package was the result of careful negotiations between Newsom and top legislative leaders and forged in the waning days of the legislative session. They pushed to get the deal done quickly — before an election year — to inject certainty into Cap-and-Invest, which had begun losing funds as businesses grew less sure of its future.
The last-minute negotiations required a one-day extension of the legislative session, bringing Assembly members and state senators back on Saturday to consider the bills. Still, lawmakers passed the deal with little fanfare.
Newsom and the Assembly had been pushing for a “straight” reauthorization of the program until 2045, with few tweaks. Some environmental groups had been pushing for larger changes to the bills, and said Senate negotiators were on their side. The two bills that emerged, Senate Bill 840 and Assembly Bill 1207, hewed closer to Newsom’s vision.
Aside from the Cap-and-Invest reauthorization, the package included Senate Bill 254, an omnibus energy bill that seeks to tackle affordability challenges, and Senate Bill 352, which would strengthen monitoring of air pollution in vulnerable communities.
