California needs policies to protect communities moving to renewable energy

Unless the state’s electric grid is fully converted to use energy from renewable sources, electrifying appliances would have only a minimal effect in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a UCLA report. In 2018, California laid out an ambitious goal to transform the state’s energy system.

A bill called SB 100 mandated that utility companies generate all of their electric power using zero-emission energy sources by 2045. As a result, companies like Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric are hoping to work with consumers and the state to replace gas appliances with electric ones.

However, a new report by researchers at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability suggests that — unless the state’s electric grid is fully converted to use energy from solar, wind and other renewable sources — electrifying appliances would have only a minimal effect in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Without that conversion, the study says, the planned transition could produce two negative consequences: exacerbating consumers’ demand for electricity at peak usage periods and increasing the amount that consumers spend on energy. The paper is published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Stephanie Pincetl, a UCLA professor in residence and […]

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