The state of California is inching towards an all-electrical energy system that would completely eliminate fossil fuels, but a California State University professor foresees the emerging policy leading to even more pollution.
“The electrical equipment manufacturers and appliance manufacturers will probably be very happy to see California become exclusively electric but will consumers be better off?” said Robert Michaels, a professor of economics at California State University-Fullerton. “I’ve got my doubts about it. Particularly after you take into account the environmental changes that are going to be induced by that move to transition everything to electric.”
Michaels is responding to the California Energy Commission (CEC) agreeing to settle a lawsuit brought by Southern California Gas (SoCalGas), a Los Angeles-based utility company, in Orange County Superior Court.
“So Cal Gas doesn't want to lose customers to electricity,” he said. “This is just a massive economic battle between very powerful interests.”
SoCalGas sued alleging that the CEC was disregarding a law requiring that benefits of natural gas be taken into consideration in energy policy decision making.
“So Cal Gas is fighting an all-electrical trend where people will be dependent on the power grid, which could potentially lead to more frequent blackouts,” Michaels said. “People are simply going to move their business out of state, which is not good for the economic environment here.”
In a June 21 letter, So Cal Gas Energy and Environmental Policy senior manager Kevin Barker requested an independent audit of the Commission’s natural gas and electricity rate modeling so that commissioners, individuals, and businesses would better understand the tradeoffs between gas and electric options.
“The grid is just one of the true miracles of civilization, and adding renewables or a renewable power plant doesn't strengthen the grid,” Michaels told the Southern California Record. “It makes it more vulnerable. If the Commission is really worried about the planet having problems, then the solution would have to be on a planet-wide basis, not on the basis of shipping gas here or there, or changing little parts of one state's power supply.”
Coal is being banished from the state’s power supply while clean energy advocates are promoting electrical appliances over gas heaters and stoves in new housing construction, according to media reports.
But the risk of going all electrical includes a less reliable grid, according to Michaels.
“One way of getting a little bit better treatment for yourself might be to become more self-sufficient with a generator and I never thought it would come to this,” he said. “With a power generator, people can generate their own power in the event of a blackout.”
A 2020 Energy Institute at Haas study found that some 15% of Californians who have experienced outages are buying backup generators and paying an average of $1,800 for them.
“The problem with individuals buying and using their own generators is burning fuel or diesel fuel,” Michaels added. “The planet will become more polluted if everyone has their own generator.”