California Is Powering Up a Cleaner, More Affordable Energy Future

Relief for your utility bills is on the horizon, thanks to two new laws I authored,

 and Governor Gavin Newsom signed this year!

California has an electricity problem. Our utility bills are among the highest in the nation, demand for power is growing, and we're racing to transition to clean energy. 

But here's the good news: We already have many of the tools we need to build a cleaner, more affordable energy future. We just need to put them to work. 

Thanks to Governor Newsom's leadership and commitment to California's clean energy future, we're taking an important step toward doing exactly that.

For too long, California's utility system has rewarded spending more instead of spending smarter. Utilities earn profits on infrastructure investments, creating incentives to build expensive new projects even when more affordable solutions may be available. Meanwhile, Californians have invested billions in rooftop solar, home batteries, electric vehicles, and other technologies that could help power our grid, but we're not making the most of them.

That's why I authored two bills, SB 905 and SB 913, both recently signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. Together, they're designed to change how California powers its future, making our electricity system more efficient, reliable, and affordable.

SB 905 tackles the cost side of the equation. It reforms utility incentives by addressing how much utilities can profit from certain infrastructure investments and pushing for greater accountability and efficiency. The goal is simple: Stop rewarding unnecessary spending and start rewarding smarter investments that keep electricity affordable. Californians shouldn't have to pay more just because utilities can make more.

SB 913, the Clean Local Power Act, tackles the supply side. Millions of Californians already own batteries, electric vehicles, and smart thermostats that can help balance electricity demand and keep the lights on. By allowing these resources to compete more fairly with traditional power plants, we can tap into clean energy that's already sitting in our garages, on our rooftops, and in our homes.

And the potential is electrifying. California is adding more than 8,000 customer batteries every month, representing roughly 100 megawatts of additional capacity. That's energy we can put to work during peak demand, reducing our reliance on expensive, polluting power plants and avoiding costly new infrastructure. Instead of always building more, we can get more out of what we've already built.

These two laws help modernize California's electricity system by putting affordability, competition, and smarter technology at the center of our clean energy transition.

Governor Newsom and I have made accelerating California's clean energy transition a priority, and his signing of these two bills reinforces an important principle: a cleaner energy future must also be an affordable one. His leadership, combined with the work of the Legislature, is helping California modernize its grid while putting consumers first.

The future of clean energy isn't just about generating more power. It's about using the power we already have more wisely. Now that's a powerful way forward.