Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced new legislation that would allow California to purchase power from gas-fired plants if needed to prevent blackouts, a move opposed by environmentalists and in tension with his clean energy goals.
The effort, proposed in an energy trailer bill, would grant new powers to the California Department of Water Resources that allow it to reimburse utilities for the purchase of additional power this summer, including from diesel generators and aging gas-fired plants along the state’s southern coast.
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It calls for the creation of a so-called strategic reliability reserve, led by the department, to help protect the power grid against blackouts this summer amid a backdrop of extreme weather events and drought.
In addition, the proposal would grant the department the authority to “construct, own, and operate” power plants — a detail that has sparked concern from environmental groups, which argue that such decisions would not be subject to the normal public input processes or require approval from local air quality management districts.
To that end, roughly two dozen environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the California Coastal Protection Network, signed a letter on Tuesday opposing the bill, which they said gives the department “unprecedented” authority to finance and construct new energy projects without compliance with existing local, state, or federal laws.
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“It’s a massive shift, a game-changer,” Kim Delfino, an environmental consultant, told state news outlet CalMatters. “This is a carte blanche approach: You can do this and you are not accountable to anyone — no daylight, no discussion. This was too massive a policy decision to be kept behind closed doors.”
The effort comes after California energy officials warned earlier this year that the state is at heightened risk of an energy shortfall this summer due to extreme weather and a period of severe and prolonged drought.
