San Francisco, Calif. — Today, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ordered electricity providers to build 11,500 megawatts (MW) of new zero-emission electricity resources to come online between 2023-2026. This vote comes after strong public support for removing fossil fuels from the order, with hundreds of written public comments and voicemails urging the Commission to require new resources to be zero-emission only.
In response to the vote, Regenerate California, a joint campaign of the California Environmental Justice Alliance and Sierra Club, released the following statement:
“This is a big step forward in California’s clean energy and air quality goals. We applaud the CPUC for listening to Californians' loud and consistent support for clean energy, and moving the ball forward in building an unprecedented amount of clean energy that will help us meet our climate targets, create good paying jobs after a devastating pandemic, and help keep the lights on as climate change makes our weather more extreme and unpredictable.
“It is now the responsibility of the Commission to ensure clean energy investments reach environmental justice communities and that they benefit first from the buildout of these resources. Over half of the state’s gas plants are located in environmental justice communities, which are predominantly low-income communities and communities of color who have historically experienced underinvestment and are disproportionately impacted by dangerous air pollution from fossil fuels.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Commission to ensure that these clean resources phase out fossil fuels, and are prioritized in environmental justice communities that need and deserve the economic, public health, and safety benefits of clean energy.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
About California Environmental Justice Alliance
California Environmental Justice Alliance is a statewide, community-led alliance that works to achieve environmental justice by advancing policy solutions. We unite the powerful local organizing of our members in the communities most impacted by environmental hazards – low-income communities and communities of color – to create comprehensive opportunities for change at a statewide level. We build the power of communities across California to create policies that will alleviate poverty and pollution. Together, we are growing the statewide movement for environmental health and social justice. www.caleja.org