Over the weekend, lawmakers in Sacramento passed a suite of energy-related bills pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that came forward in the final days of the California legislative session.

The measures that extended proceedings into Saturday include legislation that clears the way for California to join a regional electric grid, tries to boost statewide oil production in the wake of a pair of looming refinery shutdowns, extends California’s cap-and-trade program and replenishes the state’s wildfire funds.

The bills head to now head to the governor’s office, where Newsom has until Oct. 13 to sign them into law.

By all indications, that will be a mere formality.

“After months of hard work with the Legislature, we have agreed to historic reforms that will save money on your electric bills, stabilize gas supply, and slash toxic air pollution — all while fast-tracking California’s transition to a clean, green job-creating economy,” Newsom said when the raft of last-minute bills were introduced.

Regional grid

Assembly Bill 825, originally known as Senate Bill 540, will enable California to join a new energy trading market with other states in the West. By more easily tapping into power in the region, the bill’s supporters say it will lead to lower energy costs for consumers and more seamlessly integrate power supplies.

The California Independent System Operator that manages the electric grid for about 80% of the state, took to social media and hailed the bill’s passage as “a major milestone for the West” that was “shaped by years of successful and evolving regional collaboration.”

AB 825 passed 34-0 in the Senate on Friday and 74-1 in the Assembly on Saturday.

But critics worry that joining a regional grid with other states that don’t all share California’s decarbonization goals could link the Golden State with those like Wyoming that use coal-fired power plants.

“This concerns us because the federal government has recently forced customers in other regional markets to pay increased costs to prop up fossil (fuel) generation facilities at risk of retirement,” Lee Trotman, communications director for The Utility Reform Network, known as TURN, said in an email. “TURN asks each policymaker to do everything you can to make sure, that TURN’s warnings about AB 825 never come to pass.”

Boosting in-state oil

Senate Bill 237, which also zoomed through the Legislature with large bipartisan support, passed amid worries that California’s already high gasoline prices may climb even higher.

Phillips 66 plans to shut down its twin refineries in Carson and Wilmington by the end of this year and Valero recently gave notice it will shut down operations at its refinery in the Northern California city of Benicia by 2026. The Valero and Phillips 66 facilities combine to account for roughly 18% of the state’s crude oil capacity.

In the wake of the pending closures, the California Energy Commission sent Newsom a series of recommendations to bolster stability to the petroleum market.

SB 237 includes provisions aimed at increasing crude oil production in the state, particularly in the Bakersfield area where the largest concentration of derricks are located.

“This legislation will protect consumers from supply disruptions, provide investor confidence in the state’s energy sector and ensure Kern County continues to lead with both environmental responsibility and energy reliability,” the Kern County Board of Supervisors said in a statement.

But a coalition of environmental groups decried SB 237, saying it runs counter to the state’s clean energy goals.

“More in-state drilling will not prevent inevitable refinery closures or guarantee lower gas prices,” said the group that included Sierra Club California, the Natural Resources Defense Council and California Environmental Voters. “Additional permits will not change the fact that California oil fields are in decline, nearly completely depleted, but will worsen racial and climate injustice.

Keeping cap and trade going

Since 2013, California participates in a cap-and-trade program that requires power plants, natural gas providers and large industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy permits on the carbon pollution they produce.

The Legislature over the weekend passed Assembly Bill 1207, which extends the program for the next 20 years, and Senate Bill 840 that will distribute the estimated $60 billion to $90 billion of revenue among various air, water and fire prevention programs aimed at reducing emissions.

The legislation also earmarks $20 billion that will go to the state’s controversial and expensive high-speed rail project.

“By aligning the future of cap and trade with the timeline of California’s ambitious emission reduction targets, California is positioned to achieve its climate goals in the most cost-effective way possible,” said Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California state director of the Environmental Defense Fund.

AB 1207 renames the cap-and trade program as the California Cap-And-Invest Program.

Despite the passage of AB 1207 and SB 840, a large number of Republicans voted against the two bills, with some complaining about the lack of funding for agricultural projects in the program.

Wildfires and utilities

A wide-ranging piece of legislation, Senate Bill 254 raises $18 billion to shore up the state’s Wildfire Fund, which some worry will get depleted after January’s deadly fires in the Los Angeles area.

Under SB 254, the state’s big investor-owned utilities (including San Diego Gas & Electric) would combine to pay for half of the $18 billion total while electricity customers across California would pay the other $9 billion over a 10-year period.

The bill also creates low-interest loans to cover the construction of new transmission lines and prohibits utilities from earning a rate of return on the first $6 billion they spend on their upgrades on wildfire prevention.

Those provisions and others, SB 254’s supporters say, can help reduce monthly electric bills for customers across the state.

“There are pieces that some of us like and some of us don’t,” Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Fremont, told Politico, “but this is a very large collaboration.”

SB 254 passed the Senate 30-2 on Friday and the Assembly on Saturday, 69-0.

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