Please share widely!
(From Indivisible CA Green Team) On April 17, Assembly Energy Chair Petrie-Norris allowed poison pill amendments to AB 2256 and AB 2619, gutting two great bills that would have required the CPUC to include all the benefits of rooftop solar in their NEM proposal. These amendments were so unacceptable that both authors had to pull their bills.
This coming Wednesday, April 24, we have another shot. AB 2256 is on the agenda, and Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin’s bill – AB 1999, the repeal of the utility tax, needs to be heard, as well. We need everyone to call Asm Petrie-Norris to pass these 2 bills with no amendments and our own assemblymembers to have them apply pressure! The utilities are doing everything to kill these bills that harm their profits so that our rates can continue to go up with no end in sight. (First post on this issue here.) Note:
- Everyone, even non-constituents, can call Ass. Petrie-Norris, as she is the chair of the committee.
- Speak for yourself and/or behalf of any groups you belong to, as either a leader or member. (Indivisible Ventura is one of the 300 nonprofit groups who submitted a letter in support AB 1999)
- We need many many calls. This is a make or break moment.
Two scripts – 35 seconds each – We timed them!
Minimal call script to Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee Chair, Petrie-Norris (916) 319-2073: I’m a California resident and I’m contacting Assemblymember Petrie-Norris in her role as Chair of the Utilities and Energy Committee. [It’s very important to me/I’m a member/leader of ____ and it’s important to us] that BOTH AB 1999 and AB 2256 be scheduled AND passed through her Energy Committee this Wednesday as written, with no poison pill amendments. More than 300 nonprofit groups support AB 1999, because if it doesn’t pass, millions of working people and seniors will see significant bill increases. Thank you.
Minimal call script for your own assemblymember: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember [___] to know that it’s very important to [me/my organization ____] that AB 1999 and AB 2256 pass through the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee this Wednesday as written, with no poison pill amendments. More than 300 nonprofit groups support AB 1999, because if it doesn’t pass, millions of working people and seniors will see significant bill increases. Please ask the assemblymember to share our concerns with committee members. Thank you. (Note: If Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin is your legislator, PLEASE tell her staff to pass on your thanks for AB 1999 and for being such a courageous leader!)
Additional script if you want it: I would also like the Assemblymember to consider creating a bill for our entire state to join the 49 million Americans in nearly 2,000 communities across the U.S. — including large cities like Los Angeles and Seattle, who rely on community-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities. We are tired of seeing obscene profits posted by our privately-owned utilities, and fighting their constant grasping for more user fees.
Contact:
- Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee Chair, Petrie-Norris – (916) 319-2073
- Call your assemblymember!
- State Assemblymember Steve Bennett: (CA-38): email, SAC (916) 319-2038, VTA (805) 485-4745
- State Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin: (CA-42): email, SAC (916) 319-2042, TO ((805) 370-0542
- Not your people? Which assemblymember/state senator is mine?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.
Background:
- AB 1999 (Irwin) would stop the big Utility Tax by capping it at $10/month and prohibiting it from rising any faster than inflation.
- A year ago, California’s three big investor-owned electric power utilities – Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric – proposed new fixed charges on their residential customers that would vary by income. This is proving so unpopular, that it’s already been scrapped. The CPUC offered a less contentious proposal: a flat $24.15 per month fixed charge for most customers, lower $6 or $12 charges for low-income households, and lower overall rates tied to usage. That’s still too high.
- Millions of Californians who live in apartments, condos, and small homes that use less energy would see their utility bills increase by hundreds of dollars per year!
- AB 2256 would mandate that rooftop solar continue to “grow as needed to meet the state’s climate goals … including disadvantaged communities.” It would also require the CPUC to consider all benefits of rooftop solar, including “increased resiliency, protection, preservation of open-space resources and wildlife habitats, and local economic development.”
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 