Why Gavin Newsom is afraid of the dark

By BLANCA BEGERT and WES VENTEICHER

08/30/2023 09:00 PM EDT

Gov. Gavin Newsom is weighing promises to phase out fossil fuels against fears about keeping the lights on. | David McNew/Newsmakers/Getty Images

KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON — A California regulator is scheduled to take a vote tomorrow that, like others of its kind recently, would step back from a climate pledge in the name of avoiding blackouts and price spikes.

The Public Utilities Commission will decide whether to expand natural gas storage at Aliso Canyon, the site of the largest methane leak in U.S. history in 2015, by two-thirds.

Gov. Gavin Newsom campaigned on closing the site, but has mostly kept quiet about the proposed expansion, saying only that he supports the commission’s efforts to maintain affordable and reliable energy while continuing to pursue closure.

He’s also blessed extensions of gas-fired plants in Southern California and of Diablo Canyon Power Plant, the San Luis Obispo County nuclear facility, beyond planned closure dates.

As governor, Newsom has set ambitious targets to remove greenhouse gas emissions from the air and the power supply. He’s championed climate legislation and dedicated $50 billion to ramping up carbon-free power, transitioning to an electric economy and adapting to the effects of climate change. His administration has imposed the nation’s strictest rules for weaning commercial trucks, boats and trains off of fossil fuels.

His pivot reflects the awkward reality he and other climate-minded governors face: Politics moves far faster than the building of solar fields, wind farms and transmission lines, while power blackouts and electric bill spikes hit home immediately.

“If there’s a blackout, it’s the governor’s fault,” said former Gov. Gray Davis (D), who was recalled in 2003 partly due to rolling blackouts and electricity price spikes during his term. “Certainly they don’t send you congratulations when you keep the power on, but ultimately they’ll hold the governor responsible for maintaining the grid.”

The Public Utilities Commission decides tomorrow on expanding natural gas storage at Aliso Canyon. | Jae C. Hong/AP Photo

The PUC has been studying closing Aliso Canyon since shortly after the October 2015 leak at one of the site’s 114 storage wells. The leaking well spewed methane along with benzene and other compounds for 111 days, sickening residents. Former Gov. Jerry Brown (D) directed the agency to close it by 2027, and Newsom backed closing it even earlier when he first took office in 2019.

But a rapidly changing energy picture is making that more complicated. Extreme weather is becoming more common, producing dramatic swings in demand and extreme events such as wildfires and floods that can abruptly wipe out transmission.

At the same time, energy demand is climbing due to a push to electrify everything from cars to homes. And new sources of renewable energy are backed up for years in permitting bottlenecks.

Those dynamics led the California Energy Commission and the State Water Resources Control Board to approve three-year extensions of natural gas-fired power plants in Ormond Beach, Long Beach and Huntington Beach that were slated for closure at the end of this year.

And they spurred Newsom to negotiate an agreement last year to extend Diablo Canyon — which he supported closing as lieutenant governor — through 2030, rather than shutting it down by 2025 as planned.

To environmental justice organizations and people who live near the facilities, the reversals amount to a string of broken promises.

“It is impossible for me to tell if anything has changed or what has changed in the governor’s perspective,” said Issam Najm, a neighborhood resident and environmental engineer who is involved in the closure proceedings. “I would expect him to chime in on this situation. We have not heard from him yet.” — Wes Venteicher

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WHO’S BEHIND BILLS? — Yesterday we covered draft bill language floating in the legislature that would allow gas companies to pass the costs of carbon capture and storage infrastructure to ratepayers. Another piece of draft language would allow them to access a more streamlined permitting process for hydrogen projects.

Today we have an update after reaching out to SoCalGas to ask if they were shopping around these proposals. Spokesperson Chris Gilbride didn’t explicitly confirm or deny, but he did say that “SoCalGas supports legislation that would enhance California’s bid for billions of dollars made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for clean, renewable hydrogen and carbon management — both of which are called for in California’s climate plan.”

He added that the company is “awaiting confirmation from authors about whether any actions related to these important issues will be discussed and taken up during the final days of the current legislative session.”

Newsom’s climate advisor, Lauren Sanchez, tours a hydrogen facility with Chinese officials in Guangdong Province. | Courtesy of the Governor’s Office

GUANGDONG DIPLOMACY — Newsom’s climate chiefs are mixing it up with their counterparts in China in the first trip of its kind since 2019.

Climate advisor Lauren Sanchez, who landed in Beijing on Sunday night, toured a hydrogen facility and met with Guangdong Province officials, according to the governor’s office. She and Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot met with Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate envoy, who held talks with U.S. climate envoy John Kerry last month.

The trip is aimed at bolstering ties with Chinese provinces with which California has agreements stretching back a decade to collaborate on reducing air pollution, transitioning to electric vehicles and other initiatives.

MACE MOVES ON — Amber Mace, who has been with the California Council on Science and Technology for a nearly decade, will be leaving her CEO post in September. She’ll be moving on to her new gig with the California Academy of Sciences, as managing director/chief of strategic partnerships.

Mace joined the nonprofit, state-established think tank with two decades of experience in environmental policy and marine ecology under her belt. During her time at CCST, she grew the organization in size and impact, connecting experts with policy makers on topics from fracking to wildfires.

CCST Deputy Director Sarah Brady will be taking her place as interim CEO.

— Air pollution is rising in remote forests due to wildfires and emissions from agricultural soils, says a new study from UC Davis.

— California state scientists will vote on authorizing a strike as pay negotiations approach an impasse.

— Groundwater aquifers are depleting across the country — the stakes are particularly high in California.

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated Amber Mace’s work experience.