Susannah Luthi of the Washington Free Beacon reports on the latest bad idea from California’s governor.
Californians can once again expect a spike to their utility bills, which are already among the highest in the nation, thanks to the Newsom administration’s pledge to buy electricity from offshore wind turbines. State-commissioned consultants expect residents will have to pay up to $40 billion, but outside experts predict the actual cost will be multiple times higher.In August, the California Public Utilities Commission—appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.)—authorized the state to begin soliciting up to 7.6 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, stating in 2027. That commitment ignored its consultants’ recommendation to limit the project to between 1 and 3 gigawatts to avoid major increases to ratepayers’ electricity bills.
A state-commissioned analysis by Energy and Environmental Economics projected that relying on offshore wind energy for 7.6 gigawatts—a small fraction of California’s annual electric grid needs of 287 gigawatts—could save about $10 billion by 2045 in the most optimistic scenario. But it also predicted that the plan would more likely cost ratepayers as much as $40 billion. Outside experts believe that’s a major underestimate, with actual costs ranging from double to nearly quadruple that figure.
The high price tags reflect exorbitant costs associated with building special floating windmills and connecting them to land. They also come as Californians pay the third-highest average residential electricity rate in the nation, at 31.64 per kilowatt-hour.Floating windmills are significantly more expensive than traditional ones, and because the technology is so new, it’s difficult to predict factors such as lifespan and maintenance costs, the experts said. “It’s good old fashioned grift,” said Jonathan Lesser, president of the energy consulting firm Continental Economics. “It’s the highest cost source of renewable energy. Why would you build that?”
