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Gov. Newsom issues executive order aimed at lowering electric bills

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Gov. Newsom issues executive order aimed at lowering electric bills

With Californians angry about their skyrocketing electric bills, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Wednesday aimed at giving them some relief.

The governor’s order directs the state Public Utilities and Energy commissions to find ways to try to lower power bills in the future, or at the minimum to stop them from rising so quickly.

Among the actions he asks for is a closer review of how utilities are spending money to stop transmission lines from sparking wildfires. State officials say those wildfire mitigation costs now make up about 13% of customers’ monthly electric bills.

“We’re taking action to address rising electricity costs and save consumers money on their bills,” Newsom said. “California is proving that we can address affordability concerns as we continue our world-leading efforts to combat the climate crisis.”

The governor issued the executive order days before Tuesday’s election, in which kitchen-table economics is a top concern.

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California now has the second-highest electric rates in the country after Hawaii. Residential customer bills have risen by as much as 110% in the last decade.

In just the past three years, bills for customers of the three biggest for-profit utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — have increased by 20% to 50%. Those most recent rate increases were reviewed and approved by Newsom appointees at the state public utilities commission.

The executive order is just one of Newsom’s recent moves aimed at reducing soaring energy costs. In August, he and Democratic lawmakers released a suite of energy-related bills just days before the legislative session ended. That same month the governor ordered lawmakers to return to Sacramento for a special session to debate a bill that would require oil refineries to increase gasoline reserves in an attempt to prevent price spikes at the pump.

The governor’s staff say Newsom is committed to the state’s ambitious climate goals, which include having 100% clean electricity by 2045. But he has become concerned as electric rates have risen to cover the cost of the state’s fast construction of solar farms and other renewable power, they say.

Newsom’s executive order asks his administration to look for “underperforming or underutilized programs” that are paid for by electric customers that could be ended. It says any unused money in those programs should be returned to customers.

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In addition, the order asks the state’s Air Resources Board to determine how the California Climate Credit could be increased. Most Californians’ get the credit twice a year on their electric and gas bills. The credit is funded by the state’s cap-and-trade program, which attempts to reduce harmful emissions.

The order also directs the state Public Utilities Commission to pursue all federal funding opportunities that could reduce electric costs.

An early plan by Newsom’s office for the executive order that was reviewed by The Times asked the public utilities commission to look into alternative ways of financing the building of electrical lines and other infrastructure. Currently, building infrastructure is a key way for utilities to boost their profits because they bill the cost back to ratepayers over many years, tacking on annual interest that is typically 10.5%.

Consumer groups say that lowering this rate could result in significant savings for customers.

The governor’s executive order released Wednesday didn’t include that provision. His staff said the directive to find other ways of financing infrastructure wasn’t included in the executive order because it would require legislative statutes to be changed.

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In August, Newsom backed away from an earlier plan he had to lower the infrastructure interest rate after criticism from the big utilities and electrical workers’ union, according to a report by the Sacramento Bee.

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Nikki Haley responds after Trump says she won't be part of new cabinet, says she wishes him 'great success'

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Nikki Haley responds after Trump says she won't be part of new cabinet, says she wishes him 'great success'

Nikki Haley, a Republican who ran against President-elect Trump months ago, responded after he publicly announced that she would not be joining his administration.

Responding in an equally public format, Haley wrote that she wishes him “great success.”

“I was proud to work with President Trump defending America at the United Nations,” she wrote in a X post Saturday. 

“I wish him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years,” she said.

TRUMP RULES OUT TWO GOP STALWARTS FROM JOINING HIS ADMINISTRATION: ‘WILL NOT BE INVITING’

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Nikki Haley wrote a supportive op-ed about President Trump two days before Election Day. (Justin Sullivan/Win McNamee)

Haley’s gracious response came after Trump took to Truth Social to frankly state that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, as well as former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo would not be participating in his new cabinet. 

The announcement came after rumors have swirled regarding President-elect Trump’s cabinet members.

NIKKI HALEY PENS SUPPORTIVE OP-ED IN FAVOR OF TRUMP AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY: ‘EASY CALL’

“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” the president-elect posted on Truth Social early Saturday evening. 

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“I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country,” he continued. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Nikki Haley visits Hamas attack site in Israel

Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina, during a news conference in Sderot, Israel, on Monday, May 27, 2024. The former US ambassador visited sites including Kibbutz Nir Oz and the site of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival.  (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Haley during her run for the Republican candidate attempted to cast herself as an alternative to Trump, but eventually penned a supportive op-ed about the presidential candidate two days before Election Day.

The former South Carolina governor wrote the recently-published opinion piece, which is titled “Trump Isn’t Perfect, but He’s the Better Choice.”

“I don’t agree with Mr. Trump 100% of the time,” Haley conceded. “But I do agree with him most of the time, and I disagree with Ms. Harris nearly all the time. That makes this an easy call.”

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Fox News Digital’s Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

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Trump blasts Newsom's plan to shield California from the next White House

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Trump blasts Newsom's plan to shield California from the next White House

President-elect Trump is not thrilled with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s aggressive, highly visible campaign to shield California from the Trump White House.

“Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Friday, with his oft-used nickname for the state’s Democratic governor.

Trump’s post came one day after the governor convened a special session of the state Legislature to prepare for potential Republican-led attacks on abortion rights, environmental protections and disaster funding in the liberal state.

Trump wrote that Newsom “is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election.”

Newsom’s preemptive strike signals the return of the hostile relationship between Democratic-controlled California and the Trump administration.

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In a video address to small donors and supporters Friday afternoon, Newsom said Trump’s criticism felt familiar.

“It’s a tired, old playbook of grievances. No prescriptions. No solutions. Just grievances,” he said.

The governor’s proclamation for the largely symbolic special session says his administration anticipates that Trump could seek to limit access to abortion medication, pursue a national abortion ban, dismantle environmental protections, repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and withhold federal disaster response funding, among other promises he made during the campaign.

Newsom is asking lawmakers to provide additional funding to the California Department of Justice and other agencies in his administration to immediately file lawsuits and defend against litigation from the Trump administration.

The governor’s aides said increases to the state’s legal defense would be paid for with income tax revenues that have exceeded projections in the current fiscal year, but the amount of funding will be determined in negotiations at the state Capitol. The special session is set to begin Dec. 2.

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The president-elect on Truth blasted the “INSANE POLICY DECISIONS” of California’s Democratic leaders, blaming them for people fleeing the expensive state. (State data show that, last year, California’s population increased by 0.17% after three years of losses.)

“They are making it impossible to build a reasonably priced car, the unchecked and unbalanced homeless catastrophe, & the cost of EVERYTHING, in particular ‘groceries,’ IS OUT OF CONTROL,” Trump wrote.

Trump’s social media post included a promise to demand voter identification and proof of citizenship in order to cast ballots. This fall, Newsom signed a law that bans local governments from imposing voter identification requirements.

The president-elect also criticized the “rerouting of MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER A DAY FROM THE NORTH OUT INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, rather than using it, free of charge, for the towns, cities, & farms dotted all throughout California.”

Speaking at his Rancho Palos Verdes golf club in September, Trump indicated he would revive his first-term fight with California leaders over water allocations and environmental laws meant to protect endangered fish such as the tiny delta smelt.

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He said he would “revert water up into the hills where you have all the dead forests, where the forests are so brittle” in order to prevent wildfires. And he threatened to withhold federal firefighting aid for California unless “Newscum” agreed to “sign those papers” — an apparent reference to water policy, although he did not specify which papers.

In an interview days before the election, the governor cast Trump’s “Newscum” nickname for him as a win.

“We clearly are in his head and that’s a good thing, from my perspective,” Newsom said. “It means we’re doing the right thing.”

Though Trump and Newsom sparred on social media, in the press and the courts during the president-elect’s first term, their relationship wasn’t always fraught. The governor publicly praised Trump on several occasions for providing federal aid for California wildfires. And Trump also used a clip of Newsom commending him for sending COVID-19 testing swabs to California in an ad during his 2020 presidential campaign.

The pair maintained a cordial relationship behind the scenes, but it appears to have ended.

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In his video address Friday, Newsom thanked the people who tuned in — 35,000 in total, he said — for their work to help elect Democrats in 2024.

He said he respects the presidency and wants Trump to succeed. But he’s not naive about the president-elect’s agenda.

“We know the playbook,” Newsom said. “He is going to be more, I think, aggressive than he was in the past.”

The special session is about getting prepared, the governor said, as he hinted that he has other moves up his sleeve.

“We’re not done by any stretch,” Newsom said.

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Video: Women’s March Holds Rally in Washington

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Video: Women’s March Holds Rally in Washington

new video loaded: Women’s March Holds Rally in Washington

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transcript

Women’s March Holds Rally in Washington

About 200 people showed up to the Women’s March protest and dance party in Washington D.C. The goal of the event was to reinvigorate the organization’s progressive base after the election.

(chanting) “I believe that we will win.” “Say I believe that we will win.” “I believe that we will win.” “Say I believe that we — That we will win.” “There’s so many people that came before us and had fought for our rights. And I would hate to let that legacy, I’d hate to let that go. (music)

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