California Realities and Federal Plans

Deck: 

A tale of two energy worlds.

Fortnightly Magazine - August 2009
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With the largest population and economic output of any state, California occupies an important but unusual place in the U.S. energy market. In such areas as renewable energy and energy-efficiency policy, it’s a trend-setter on initiatives among the states and the federal government. This is particularly true given the ambitious program the Obama Administration unveiled to simultaneously move toward a comprehensive greenhouse-gas (GHG)-reduction effort, while dramatically expanding investment in the nationwide energy grid with special emphasis on wholesale power demand-response (DR) programs. These goals reflect policies that California already began: A landmark climate change law (AB 32) passed in 2006 that calls for substantial GHG reductions and for a cap-and-trade program to limit emissions from the largest GHG emitters; an ambitious renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requiring retail power providers to supply 20 percent of their power from renewable resources by 2010; and aggressive energy-efficiency goals with supporting DR programs.

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