Wildfires

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Bankruptcy Deadline May Not Save PG&E from State Takeover

Reeling from multiple massive state wildfires that its actions likely triggered, Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time last year. The investor-owned utility faces a June 30, 2020 deadline to come up with a plan to come out of bankruptcy, address the estimated $25 ...
California

California Not Exactly Roaring Into The ‘20s

A recent New York Times story posed an interesting question. “California is booming,” the Times says. “Why are so many Californians unhappy?” Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent 2-hour-and-50-minute budget announcement – where he boasted of his administration’s “successes” – there are many troubling signs the state is slowing down. Chief ...
Blog

California Governor Never Met a Task Force He Didn’t Like

If you were able to make it through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s almost three-hour budget briefing, you’ve probably been following the enormous funding proposals included in the $222.2 billion budget estimate. You can save 167 minute of your time and read the blog post by PRI’s Tim Anaya. Governor Newsom ...
Blog

At the Intersection of Art and Climate In California

When the California Air Resources Board opens its new headquarters in two years in Riverside, it will be basking in the radiance of the “world’s largest permanent collection of artworks addressing air quality and the effects of climate change.” The cost: $2.42 million, funded by a public art alliance. And ...
Blackouts

Kerry Jackson – The Great Blackouts of 2019

PRI Center for California fellow Kerry Jackson discusses the electricity shutoff that plunged some 3 million Californians into darkness. He reviews the history of California’s utility problems, the lack of market incentives for delivering power in the state, and examines the policy decisions that have contributed to the ongoing wildfire ...
Blackouts

CAPITAL IDEAS – California’s Blackouts: How Did We Get Here and What Can We Do to Keep the Lights On?

Download the Brief Introduction Pacific Gas and Electric of San Francisco began in October 2019 a series of electricity blackouts called “public safety power shutoffs.” The objective was to prevent its equipment from starting wildfires during hot, dry, and windy periods. The Great Blackouts of 2019 plunged nearly 3 million ...
Blog

Free Markets: Power to The People

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that he was going to name an energy czar “in the wake of Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s prolonged power outages,” says the Sacramento Bee, because. According to the governor, “the entire system needs to be reimagined.” “We cannot afford the kind of public ...
Blackouts

On Blackouts, Gavin Newsom Should Beware the Legacy of Gray Davis

Californians are rightfully outraged over what my colleague Kerry Jackson has termed, “The Great Blackouts of 2019.” Naturally, whenever there is a crisis or a scandal in state government like the blackouts and the PG&E bailout and bankruptcy, voters look to blame someone for the problem, typically the Governor. Indeed, ...
Blackouts

California Power Outages — A Look Into The Future

California’s Great Blackout of 2019 has begun as the lights keep going out for millions across the state’s northern stretches. What should be the past now seems to be the future. Pacific Gas and Electric began shutting down power early the morning of Oct. 9, when electricity was cut to ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – October 11

Tim Anaya – Freedom of Speech Apparently Ends When You Enter an NBA Arena This week’s controversy over the NBA and China apparently extended to home. Adding insult to injury, as this video produced by the Daily Caller shows, NBA security officials confiscated signs held up by supporters of the ...
Blog

Bankruptcy Deadline May Not Save PG&E from State Takeover

Reeling from multiple massive state wildfires that its actions likely triggered, Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time last year. The investor-owned utility faces a June 30, 2020 deadline to come up with a plan to come out of bankruptcy, address the estimated $25 ...
California

California Not Exactly Roaring Into The ‘20s

A recent New York Times story posed an interesting question. “California is booming,” the Times says. “Why are so many Californians unhappy?” Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent 2-hour-and-50-minute budget announcement – where he boasted of his administration’s “successes” – there are many troubling signs the state is slowing down. Chief ...
Blog

California Governor Never Met a Task Force He Didn’t Like

If you were able to make it through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s almost three-hour budget briefing, you’ve probably been following the enormous funding proposals included in the $222.2 billion budget estimate. You can save 167 minute of your time and read the blog post by PRI’s Tim Anaya. Governor Newsom ...
Blog

At the Intersection of Art and Climate In California

When the California Air Resources Board opens its new headquarters in two years in Riverside, it will be basking in the radiance of the “world’s largest permanent collection of artworks addressing air quality and the effects of climate change.” The cost: $2.42 million, funded by a public art alliance. And ...
Blackouts

Kerry Jackson – The Great Blackouts of 2019

PRI Center for California fellow Kerry Jackson discusses the electricity shutoff that plunged some 3 million Californians into darkness. He reviews the history of California’s utility problems, the lack of market incentives for delivering power in the state, and examines the policy decisions that have contributed to the ongoing wildfire ...
Blackouts

CAPITAL IDEAS – California’s Blackouts: How Did We Get Here and What Can We Do to Keep the Lights On?

Download the Brief Introduction Pacific Gas and Electric of San Francisco began in October 2019 a series of electricity blackouts called “public safety power shutoffs.” The objective was to prevent its equipment from starting wildfires during hot, dry, and windy periods. The Great Blackouts of 2019 plunged nearly 3 million ...
Blog

Free Markets: Power to The People

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that he was going to name an energy czar “in the wake of Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s prolonged power outages,” says the Sacramento Bee, because. According to the governor, “the entire system needs to be reimagined.” “We cannot afford the kind of public ...
Blackouts

On Blackouts, Gavin Newsom Should Beware the Legacy of Gray Davis

Californians are rightfully outraged over what my colleague Kerry Jackson has termed, “The Great Blackouts of 2019.” Naturally, whenever there is a crisis or a scandal in state government like the blackouts and the PG&E bailout and bankruptcy, voters look to blame someone for the problem, typically the Governor. Indeed, ...
Blackouts

California Power Outages — A Look Into The Future

California’s Great Blackout of 2019 has begun as the lights keep going out for millions across the state’s northern stretches. What should be the past now seems to be the future. Pacific Gas and Electric began shutting down power early the morning of Oct. 9, when electricity was cut to ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – October 11

Tim Anaya – Freedom of Speech Apparently Ends When You Enter an NBA Arena This week’s controversy over the NBA and China apparently extended to home. Adding insult to injury, as this video produced by the Daily Caller shows, NBA security officials confiscated signs held up by supporters of the ...
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