One in every 9 Americans lives in California. And right now its Congress is debating a bill that "would help establish a regional electricity market capable of tying together the American West's three dozen independent power grids," according to the Los Angeles Times ' newsletter about climate change and energy issues.

But that bill "has bitterly divided environmentalists," with some seeing it "as a plot by greedy energy companies to enrich themselves."

> Supporters say it would smooth the flow of solar and wind power from the sunny, windy landscapes where they're produced most cheaply to the cities where they're most needed. It would help California keep the lights on without fossil fuels, and without driving up utility bills... [S]olar and wind power are still cheaper than planet-warming coal and fossil gas. Which is why Michael Wara, a Stanford energy and climate scholar, isn't worried that SB 540 will leave Californians drowning in dirty power. In a regional market, solar and wind will usually outcompete coal and gas. "Any energy source that requires fuel to operate is more expensive than an energy source that doesn't," he said.

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> California also needs to prove that a grid powered entirely by clean energy is affordable and reliable. The state's [1]rising electric rates are already a big concern. And although the grid has been stable the last few years, thanks to batteries that [2]store solar for after dark , keeping the lights on with more and more renewables might get harder. Regional market advocates make a [3]strong case that interstate cooperation would help.

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> For instance, a market would help California more smoothly access Pacific Northwest hydropower, already a key energy source during heat waves. It would also give California easier access to low-cost winds from New Mexico and Wyoming. Best of all, that wind is often blowing strong just as the sun sets along the Pacific. Another benefit: Right now, California often generates [4]more solar than it can use during certain hours of the day, forcing solar farms to shut down — or pay other states to take the extra power. With a regional market, California could sell excess solar to other states, keeping utility bills down. "This is about lowering costs," said Robin Everett, deputy director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign.

"Unlike with past regional market proposals, California would retain control of its [5]grid operator , with only a few functions delegated to a regional entity," the article points out. But opponents still worry this would give new powers to an outside-of-California group to thwart clean energy progress if not gouge customers. Amendments passed this week add a "Regional Energy Markets Oversight Council" to address that concern — but which [6] lost support for the bill from some of its earlier supporters .

"The amendments would make it easier for the Golden State to bail," notes the climate newsletter, and "Out-of-state utilities don't want to waste time and money committing themselves to a California-led market only to lose California, and thus many of the economic benefits..."



[1] https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-03-27/californians-pay-too-much-for-electricity-here-are-three-bold-solutions-boiling-point

[2] https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2024-12-05/column-l-a-s-massive-new-solar-farm-is-cheap-and-impressive-more-please-boiling-point

[3] https://woodsinstitute.stanford.edu/system/files/publications/Woods_Grid_Regionalization_White_Paper_v05_WEB.pdf

[4] https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-11-24/california-has-so-much-solar-power-that-increasingly-it-goes-to-waste

[5] https://www.caiso.com/

[6] https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000198-0628-d8be-adf9-f6bbebb20000&nname=california-climate&nid=00000189-315c-d8dd-a1ed-797dc9f10000&nrid=0000016f-e020-d848-afef-ffebecff0000