Energy

California's budget process is being used – or misused – to make a major change in how the state procures electric power. What could go wrong?

A new law, Assembly Bill 2316, requires utility regulators to emphasize lower-income households when it assesses new community solar proposals, making clean energy more accessible and providing savings on energy bills. But regulators need to craft the new rules soon to capitalize on the billions of federal dollars becoming available.

Communities with high concentrations of electric cars are affluent, college-educated and at least 75% white and Asian. In contrast, electric cars are almost nonexistent in Black, Latino, low-income and rural communities — revealing the enormous task that California faces electrifying the entire fleet.

A growing body of research warns that hydrogen itself can be a powerful contributor to global warming but neither local agencies nor California regulators seem to be paying attention.

Estimates suggest it will cost California at least $150 billion to fully transition to zero emission vehicles. Had Proposition 30 passed last year, the state would have narrowed the gap. Now it falls on state leaders to figure out how to pay for the transition as climate change intensifies and many goals seem harder to reach.

Government subsidies and clean energy regulations are pushing the aviation industry toward more sustainable jet fuels. Workforce advocates want the funds to be paired with accountability measures that protect communities harmed most by pollution.

Granted an exemption, PG&E will now seek a 20-year permit — but state officials only want the nuclear power plant open through 2030 to smooth the transition to renewable energy.

Automakers face global challenges obtaining battery materials, including China’s stranglehold on the industry and mining in Africa. Will they have everything they need to ramp up electric car production — and at what cost to the economy and the environment?

Officials from California's largest tribe are concerned about the lack of engagement so far by offshore wind companies, reviving worries over the historic extraction of resources without their involvement.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory fusion breakthrough illuminates a new path for clean energy. It also cements California's role as a world leader in cutting-edge science and technology.