Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez’s renewable energy bill loses its big vision

When Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez introduced Assembly Bill 177 last June, it contained an aggressive agenda to kick up California’s renewable energy goal to 51 percent by 2030 and require utilities to base purchases of renewable power not only on cost, but each project’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions and grid reliability.The purpose behind the bill, the Coachella Democrat said at the time, was twofold. It would provide better coordination of the state’s rigorous but fractured goals for greenhouse gas reductions, energy efficiency and clean energy development, while promoting the growth of geothermal energy and other renewables at the Salton Sea to help fund the shrinking saltwater lake’s restoration.But the version of Pérez’s bill that emerged from two committee votes last week was all but gutted of its strongest provisions, following opposition from 25 business groups, utilities and even some renewable energy developers and trade groups.Rather than a big vision, the amended bill now aims for a more modest and focused goal, the creation of a state-level advisory group that would make recommendations to the California Energy Commission to help remove obstacles to geothermal development at the Salton Sea and across the state.The commission could use the recommendations as part… Read full this story

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