Posted on 08/11/2015 6:56:27 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
When it comes to alternative energy, no state has done more than California to discourage its citizens from using conventional energy and switching to "renewables." But the cost of these policies has been brutal for some.
That's especially true for electricity, which accounts for about a quarter of all global-greenhouse emissions in the state. A new study by economist Jonathan A. Lesser, for the Center for Energy Policy and the Environment at the Manhattan Institute, finds that higher prices are having a big impact.
"As a result of the state's green-energy policies, Californians' electricity bills have risen and appear likely to continue rising significantly," wrote Lesser in "Less Carbon, Higher Prices: How California's Climate Policies Affect Lower-Income Residents."
As the title of his study suggests, the brutal brunt of these policies will be felt greatest by the poor — those who can least afford to make significant adjustments to offset the impact.
California's policies are, by current engineering and scientific standards, insane. Under its current rules, 25% of the state's electricity consumption will have to come from renewable sources by 2016. It won't happen, but it's the law. By 2020, 33% will have to come from renewable resources. And if Gov. Jerry Brown has his way, it'll jump to 50% by 2030.
Of course utilities will not meet the standard. But they will try. And doing so, says Lesser, will make electricity more expensive. "When retail consumers subsidize electricity supplies at above-market costs, retail prices inevitably rise, even if the fuel is 'free,' " Lesser wrote. They already have: Since 2004, residential electricity prices are up by more than 30%.
Crunching the numbers, Lesser defines "energy poverty" as a household that's spending more than 10% of its income on electricity and natural gas.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Simple fix, just give it to them for “free” and watch their usage skyrocket. What’s another handout in the good old CA?
The Green policies are due to the color of money to pay for them. The Green utopia is for the wealthy only.
a Proposition to go on the ballot requiring politicians NOT to pursue meritless policies that raise the cost of living for the citizenry
a court case requiring the AGW crowd to prove that they are right.
Maybe it is a plot to run the poor (including illegal aliens) out of the state. Gasoline prices are ridiculous too.
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