Old North News

As California continues its march toward green energy, the state’s policies, which might sound good in theory, could ultimately make life very uncomfortable for Americans, even those beyond the Golden State’s borders.

Californians barely avoided widespread blackouts during last week’s heatwave due in part, the Wall Street Journal editorial board asserts, to the state’s lack of gas and nuclear energy supplies for electricity. 

Such policies likely will make their way across the nation, putting more people at risk of fallout from short-sighted political policies.

“But what starts in Cal­i­for­nia rarely stays in Cal­i­for­nia,” the Journal piece said. “Amer­icans every­where will soon be soaked with higher prices for power that is be­com­ing less re­li­able.”

It cited Rhode Is­land as an example, where Rhode Island En­ergy asked reg­u­la­tors this sum­mer to more than dou­ble cur­rent elec­tric rates for this win­ter. 

But North Carolina isn’t outside the reach of economic effects from the policies, and the Tarheel State’s Democratic Senate candidate Cheri Beasley supports green energy initiatives and reducing fossil fuel production, according to her website. 

Her website states, “Cheri supports investing in climate-resilient infrastructure, expanding our renewable energy industry and efforts to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.”

“Fall­ing gaso­line prices for many Amer­i­cans could be fully off­set by ris­ing elec­tric­ity costs,” the Journal article said.

Although North Carolina hasn’t seen such an extreme increase in electricity rates — the cost of electricity in North Carolina on average is 11.83 c/kwh as of June 2022, compared to 11.51 c/kwh last year, according to the most recent data from Choose Energy — the national average has increased 11.3% compared to 2021. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has pushed California toward green energy reliance (solar and wind power), causing gas and nuclear plants to shut down all across the state. During last week's triple-digit temperatures, the state was unable to provide enough electricity to Californians.

Newsom blamed climate change and was forced to use emergency generators and to advise a series of guidelines to deal with the crisis. The Journal editorial writers offered a different take.

“The grid problems that Californians are enduring will grow and spread as supersized green-energy subsidies and mandates spread their harmful incentives throughout the U.S. economy in coming years,” they wrote. “The culprit is the left’s climate policies, not climate change."

Critics of Newsom and the left’s climate policies agree that the electricity scare was due to man-made climate policies and high temperatures at the end of summer. Critics also claim the threat of more shutoffs is bound to spread nationwide to more states.

The Journal states that from 2010-2020, gas-fired capacity decreased by 4,390 MW and nuclear by 2,150 MW. Although California has increased the supply of solar and wind power by 17,000 MW, it cannot be forced to power millions of homes during a heatwave, the editorial board contends. 

The op-ed piece also argues that Newsom’s tactics during the emergency heat wave are ironic in that California set up emergency gas-powered generators for specific situations like this one. These generators use fossil fuels to power electricity. Thirty percent of Los Angeles’ electricity supply comes from coal, which the editorial board calls “Newsom’s dirty little climate secret.” Critics claim that the left’s call to move away from fossil fuels does not make energy cheaper, and in turn makes it less reliable as exemplified by the heatwave crisis.

End-of-summer heatwaves are completely normal, the editorial writers argue. California was forced to rely on other state’s backup supply but even that wasn’t enough as surrounding states have also been transitioning to green energy and shutting down gas and nuclear plants. Because of the heatwave emergency, Newsom told Californians to raise their thermostats and advised industrial businesses close temporarily, saying in a video uploaded by the governor’s office that “everyone must do their part.” 

Meanwhile, California’s average electricity cost has increased 25.4% compared to 2021, according to the most recent data from Choose Energy. 

Republican commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), joined by some industry groups, have been arguing for a slower transition to renewable energy to ensure energy shortfalls are avoided. 

“We’re headed for a reliability crisis. We’re just not ready yet,” Mark Christie, one of the commission's Republican members and a Trump-appointee said during FERC’s monthly meeting in May. 

Despite voiced concerns, Democrats on the commission have sought to blame issues with power transmission as the reason for periodic blackouts.

And the party line is that a push toward green energy is the only viable future, with President Joe Biden promising during a New Hampshire event last year, "Look into my eyes. I guarantee you we’re going to end fossil fuels.”