California’s Environmental Policies Are Backfiring

California’s power prices are skyrocketing. Since 2008, electricity rates in the state have increased 3.2 times faster than the national average, far outpacing inflation. Per the Wall Street Journal, 215,000 Californians had their power shut off last year, and households owed a staggering $2.1 billion in unpaid utility bills, more than four times the amount in 2019.

Sacramento’s politicians have saddled Californians with these soaring costs through misguided climate policies over the past two decades. Even if you believe (as I do) that addressing climate change is critical, and that sustainably transitioning to a low-carbon economy is necessary, poorly conceived policies have inflated the costs of the state’s energy transition far beyond what is necessary or sustainable while simultaneously stalling the modernization of the electric grid.

PH

About the Author

Patrick Hynes

Patrick Hynes is a fellow with ConservAmerica.

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California’s power prices are skyrocketing. Since 2008, electricity rates in the state have increased 3.2 times faster than the national average, far outpacing inflation. Per the Wall Street Journal, 215,000 Californians had their power shut off last year, and households owed a staggering $2.1 billion in unpaid utility bills, more than four times the amount in 2019.

Sacramento’s politicians have saddled Californians with these soaring costs through misguided climate policies over the past two decades. Even if you believe (as I do) that addressing climate change is critical, and that sustainably transitioning to a low-carbon economy is necessary, poorly conceived policies have inflated the costs of the state’s energy transition far beyond what is necessary or sustainable while simultaneously stalling the modernization of the electric grid.