California
California regulator proposes cutting power bills 5% after doubling rates since 2014 – Washington Examiner
(The Center Square) – Following an executive order from California Gov. Gavin Newsom to explore how to reduce energy prices that have doubled since 2014, California’s energy regulator issued proposals it said would cut rates by 4% to 5% in the first year but grow significantly over time.
These proposals include reforming the program that will pay homeowners $8.5 billion this year for solar panel energy, phasing out funding of non-energy related social programs such as “food deserts” assistance from energy budgets, and reducing capital expenditures.
Under current regulations, utilities’ profits are capped relative to the value of their capital investments, which the report says incentivizes utilities to spend and borrow as much money as possible to increase their profit allowance – at ratepayers’ and taxpayers’ expense.
According to the California Public Utilities Commission’s latest electricity rate report, rates for the state’s three largest utilities have increased by an average of 96% since January 2014 and 42% since January 2021.
“California’s electricity rates have surged beyond inflation, straining households and businesses hindering decarbonization efforts,” wrote the CPUC. “Wildfire mitigation measures, costly infrastructure investments, and rooftop solar subsidies all contribute to rising costs. Without changes in how utilities recover expenses, rates will continue to climb.”
The governor’s order put significant constraints on the CPUC’s scope of recommendations, requiring the recommendations “reduce costs to electric ratepayers without compromising public health and safety, electric grid reliability, or the achievement of the State’s 2045 clean electricity goal and the State’s 2045 economywide carbon neutrality goal.”
Within these constraints, the CPUC made four recommendations on how to reduce rates by 4-5% within the first year, with future rate reductions growing over time.
First, CPUC recommended minimizing “expensive construction projects,” explaining how current regulations encourage utilities to choose expensive options that allow them to raise their CPUC-regulated profit allowance.
“There is a profit motive for utilities to pursue capital-intensive projects, as they earn a ‘return on equity’ on these investments which increases overall costs for ratepayers,” wrote the CPUC, which must approve utility projects. “Without proper oversight, this profit motive can lead to prioritizing expensive projects over more efficient alternatives.”
In addition to recommending choosing lower cost options, the CPUC also suggested securitizing some higher cost projects, which would require bonds to be issued, and paid back by ratepayers — which would not come with ROE provisions. CPUC estimates this change on just undergrounding of power lines could save customers $41 million per year in 2025, and $310 million per year by 2026.
CPUC suggests significantly reforming the rooftop solar subsidy plan that will issue $8.5 billion per year by the end of 2024 — up from $3.5 billion per year in 2021 — to energy customers with solar panels installed.
Under the existing plan, solar-equipped customers “receive payments at retail electricity rates for their exported energy, often exceeding its actual market value.”
Utilities often must pay other operators to take excess solar energy, on top of paying solar customers the retail rate for the negative-value solar energy, leaving non-solar customers with the bill.
“These growing subsidies, paid for by non-rooftop solar customers, contribute to higher electricity rates and result in a higher cost burden to non-[solar] customers,” wrote the CPUC. “Additionally, rooftop solar customers do not contribute their fair share of fixed grid costs, such as maintaining power lines and ensuring grid reliability.”
An earlier CPUC report found 15% of non-solar customers’ energy bills went towards payments to solar customers.
The CPUC recommends reducing the solar compensation rates and transitioning buyers of property with high-reimbursement agreements to the current lower rate.
CPUC further recommended that utilities “phase out non-cost-effective programs from electricity rates,” that it says often have “very little to do with reducing energy consumption,” which means “funding them through customers’ energy bills effectively acts as a regressive tax.”
The CPUC said “programs addressing food deserts or supporting high school and community college courses, while socially beneficial, are better suited for taxpayer funding than ratepayer funding.”
It also pointed to a “state-administered grant program for school infrastructure improvements,” and energy efficiency programs, finding, “Despite increasing investment, many of the programs funded today are not cost-effective and do not primarily focus on cutting energy use.”
The recommendations align with concerns raised by some state lawmakers — especially Republicans, about inequitable energy costs.
“It’s no secret that the benefits of wind and solar energy are not equally enjoyed in some communities,” said California Senate Utility, Energy and Communications Vice Chair Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, in an earlier interview with The Center Square on solar payments. “It’s time for energy resources, renewable or not, to stand independently without offsetting costs by adding more fees and relying heavily on taxpayers’ support.”
Six of the top-polling candidates in California’s race for governor faced off at a debate in San Francisco Wednesday night.
This marked the first debate since former East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race for governor and resigned from his seat. Despite Swalwell’s exit as well as the departure of Betty Yee from the race, no clear Democratic frontrunner has emerged.
The debate was hosted by Nexstar/KRON in San Francisco.
The candidates at this debate included four Democrats: former Congresswoman Katie Porter, former California State Attorney General Xavier Beccera, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, and billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer. The two Republicans at this debate included former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
All candidates are trying to make an impression ahead of the June 2 primary. Ballots will be mailed out to California voters in early May.
Political analyst Larry Gerston examines the first California governor’s race debate since Eric Swalwell dropped out, hosted by Nexstar/KRON in San Francisco.
California
Federal appeals court blocks California law requiring federal agents to wear identification
LOS ANGELES — An appeals court has blocked a California law passed in 2025 requiring federal immigration agents to wear a badge or some form of identification.
The Trump administration filed a lawsuit in November challenging the law, arguing that it would threaten the safety of officers who are facing harassment, doxing, and violence and that it violated the constitution because the state is directly regulating the federal government.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction pending appeal Wednesday. It had already granted a temporary administrative injunction to block the implementation of the law.
At a hearing March 3, Justice Department lawyers argued that the California law sought to regulate the federal government, violating the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
The appeals court agreed unanimously, saying the law “attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions,” in an opinion written by Judge Mark J. Bennett. The panel was composed of two Trump appointees, Bennett and Daniel P. Collins, and Obama appointee Jacqueline H. Nguyen.
California lawyers argued that the law applied equally to all law enforcement officers without discriminating against the U.S. government, and that states could apply “generally applicable” laws federal agents. They also argued that the law was important to address public safety concerns.
People are more likely to attack officers in self-defense if there’s no visible identification letting the public know they are law enforcement, California lawyers said in a brief opposing the injunction.
“This confusion has resulted in federal law enforcement officials being mistaken for criminals and vice versa, creating serious risk of harm to peace officers and members of the public,” they wrote.
The appeals court judges said they did not consider the public safety factors because the federal government has demonstrate its constitutional rights would be violated by the legislation, and “all citizens have a stake in upholding the Constitution,” it ruled, quoting previous case law.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called it a “huge legal victory” in a post on X.
The California Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The initial lawsuit also addressed another California measure signed into law last year that would have banned most law enforcement officers from wearing masks, neck gaiters, and other facial coverings. It was blocked by a federal judge in February.
The legislation did not apply to state law enforcement and made exceptions for undercover agents, protective equipment like N95 respirators or tactical gear, and other situations where not wearing a mask would jeopardize the operation.
California
California Islamic calligraphy artist preserves ancient tradition during Arab American Heritage Month
As Arab American Heritage Month is celebrated, one Northern California artist is keeping the centuries-old tradition of Islamic calligraphy alive, one carefully measured stroke at a time.
Sehar Shahzad is a student calligrapher. Before starting any project, Shahzad said “one of the first things that calligraphers learn is how to cut their pens.”
Her tools must be in pristine condition.
“Your instruments are just as important as anything else in this art,” she said.
Shahzad said that as a young girl growing up in Toronto, she took up Islamic calligraphy while reflecting on her religion.
“It’s not like I’d never seen it before, but it was my first time kind of trying it,” she said. “And there’s no other way to say it except that I just fell in love with it.”
Now married with three children, Islamic calligraphy is very much part of her life.
“I remember thinking that this isn’t something that I just want to learn for fun,” she said. “I really want to be able to master it.”
Shahzad said that every angle and curve follows strict geometric rules and is measured with dots.
“For example, this letter here was just a little bit too long, so we use these nuqtas to help us guide and understand how long that letter should be,” she said.
Like the Arabic language, Islamic calligraphy is read from right to left. Its bold simplicity requires precision and a deep understanding of proportion.
“When you’re creating a composition, it’s not only about the letter itself,” Shahzad said. “It’s about composition as a whole and making sure that everything balances together.”
Even though she’s still mastering her form, Shahzad’s work is featured in the prayer room of a Muslim cemetery in Napa and in the domes of mosques in San Jose, Hayward, and San Francisco.
Still, she considers her work on paper the most special.
“A form of meditation, a form of worship, requires focus, requires discipline, really brings me to a different space,” Shahzad said. “And I think that’s what I love most.”
Proving that in this fast-paced world, this millennia-long tradition is far from disappearing.
Shahzad’s work will be featured at the upcoming Light Upon Light art exhibit at the Tarbiya Institute in Roseville from April 24-26.
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