How to go green without going broke? That's the latest challenge in the alternative energy capital of California, where Democrats propose taxing the rich to make energy more equitable and affordable. To do so, lawmakers mandated utilities statewide begin billing ratepayers based not on how much electricity they use, but on how much money they make.
Underscoring all of this is California's rush to embrace clean energy, which, contrary to what Californians were told, has not proven cheaper than fossil fuels. "This electricity will be clean electricity," Vice President Kamala Harris said in January 2023 while dedicating a power line to carry green energy into California, "and the energy delivered by these lines will not just be cleaner, it will also be cheaper.