Clean Energy

| Blog Post

Corporate utilities are making California’s electricity more expensive

Man measuring solar panel

Last week, Governor Newsom vetoed three common-sense bills to advance affordable, clean energy. That included AB 740 (Harabedian), a low-cost, non-controversial bill co-sponsored by The Climate Center that passed the state legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support. AB 740 and two other bills that were vetoed (AB 44 and SB 541) aimed to expand the state’s … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience
| Press Release

Governor Newsom vetoes bill to expand virtual power plants – The Climate Center response

SACRAMENTO, October 6, 2025 — Late on Friday, October 3, 2025, Governor Newsom vetoed AB 740 (Harabedian), co-sponsored by The Climate Center, Advanced Energy United, and Environment California.  The bill would have accelerated the use of virtual power plants (VPPs), which are networks of clean, distributed energy resources like smart thermostats, home batteries, rooftop solar, … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience Energy Efficiency

Inside Sacramento: 2025 Climate Policy Recap

Zoom

The 2025 California legislative session ended on September 13. During this webinar, we will hear from legislators, environmental justice leaders, and clean energy experts about several hot topics that emerged during this session — from the future of refineries and the state’s Cap and Invest program (formerly Cap and Trade), to scaling up nature-based solutions … Read more

| Post

States are taking the lead on climate

Last week, the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors representing 24 states and 60 percent of the U.S. economy, gathered in New York City for Climate Week. As Trump lied to the United Nations about clean energy, the Alliance delivered a showcase of state-level climate actions, including a new analysis highlighting how states … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience

Enhancing Collaboration to Achieve Clean, Distributed Energy Policy Goals

2000 Franklin St. Oakland, CA 94612

Accelerated deployment of clean, distributed energy resources like rooftop solar, batteries, and electric vehicles in California would help solve multiple challenges, including energy affordability, resilience, and equity. The purpose of this meeting is to collaboratively envision how aligned stakeholders — including environmental organizations, environmental justice advocates, and related industry allies — can collaborate more effectively … Read more

Advanced Geothermal in California: Clean, Reliable Energy for All

Zoom

Geothermal power plants use heat from the Earth to generate electricity. Conventional geothermal has been around for about 120 years and produces about one-tenth of the carbon dioxide emissions that a gas power plant produces. Geothermal plants can operate around the clock and this resource will last for billions of years. However, until recently, geothermal … Read more

| Blog Post

Testimony: Virtual Power Plants can deliver clean and cheap electricity

On July 15, 2025, the California Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee voted to advance AB 740 (Harabedian), a bill to scale up the use of virtual power plants (VPPs) in California. VPPs are networks of clean, distributed energy resources like smart thermostats, home batteries, smart plugs, electric water heaters, and electric vehicles. When aggregated, … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience Energy Efficiency
| Blog Post

California needs an energy transition that benefits communities, workers, and the climate

Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery in Wilmington. Photo by Emmett Institute / Flickr.

Early this past Saturday morning, I woke up with my heart racing, wondering why so many people had to die in the horrific, climate-fueled flooding in Texas last Friday. And why so many more will suffer from the cruel, big, ugly bill signed into law by the president over the weekend — a bill that … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Just Transition