#california-energy-policy

#california-energy-policy

California is putting $55 million on the table to expand its electric vehicle (EV) fast charging network, with new funding aimed at making chargers more widely available in underserved communities. The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently announced the launch of the Fast Charge California Project, an incentive program that will cover up to 100% of installation costs for direct current (DC) fast chargers at businesses and public sites statewide. Applications are open through Oct. 29.

In a bid to stabilize struggling crude-oil refineries, state lawmakers on Saturday passed a last-minute bill that would allow the construction of 2,000 new oil wells annually in the San Joaquin Valley while further restricting drilling along California's iconic coastline. The measure, Senate Bill 237, was part of a deal on climate and environmental issues brokered behind closed doors by Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister).

The stakes were high: Californians are shouldering heavy gas and electricity prices, oil refineries are planning to shutter and the Trump administration has targeted state climate policies. Newsom ultimately struck a six-part deal, announced Wednesday with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Mike McGuire. If approved this week, the package of bills would overhaul California's energy market, spur more oil drilling, help reduce home electricity bills and monitor pollution in low-income communities.

California lawmakers introduced a last-minute deal that would streamline environmental approvals for up to 2,000 new wells annually in oil-rich Kern County, while tightening the regulatory requirements for offshore drilling. The looming closure of two California refineries has become a sore spot for Gov. Gavin Newsom and for California Democrats, pitting their longtime clean-energy goals against concerns about the rising cost of living.

California legislators are considering giving Valero Energy Corp. hundreds of millions of dollars to cover refinery maintenance costs in a bid to prevent the closure of a San Francisco-area fuel plant. Under such a deal, the state would pay Valero to continue operating its Benicia refinery, according to people familiar with the negotiations who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The plant is slated to close by April, the latest in a string of recent California fuel-plant shutdowns.