Energy Corner
An ongoing series from E-CELL at UCLA that explores policy ideas for making clean energy affordable for all Californians.
UCLA Law Clinic Files Brief Supporting DC’s Clean Buildings Act in DC Circuit
Energy law experts explain local governments’ longstanding primary authority over local gas distribution and use.
Last Friday, UCLA’s Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic filed a DC Circuit brief in support of the District of Columbia’s Clean Buildings Act on behalf of 11 leading energy and environmental law professors: UCLA’s own William Boyd, Lincoln Davies at the University of Utah, Dan Farber and Sharon Jacobs at UC Berkeley, Alexandra Klass …
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CONTINUE READINGShould we be data center YIMBYs?
Photo by Geoffrey Moffett on Unsplash
Nobody likes data centers. Still, banning them in blue states alone may be a bad idea.
Monterey Park is not often called the New York of California, but the city resembles New York—the state, that is—in one big way: Both have passed moratoria on data center development. When Monterey Park passed its ban in 2025, it was the first municipality in California to do so. Nationwide, however, hundreds of localities have …
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CONTINUE READINGPondering the Effects of Biden’s Climate Policies
A new report has some unexpected implications.
A new report from an MIT researcher says that the “glass is half full” in terms of prospects for renewables in the U.S. This was interpreted by some to mean that Biden’s climate policies were proving successful despite repeal of key parts of the Inflation Reduction Act. That’s a bit of a misreading. It also misses some key takeaways from the report. Those include skepticism about tax credits for wind and solar, an emphasis on removing obstacles to new projects, and a call for supporting the development of “firm” power sources like geotherma
CONTINUE READINGA Tariff on Data Centers Could Help Them Pay Their Fair Share
chaddavis.photography via flickr
The first in our new “Energy Corner” series, this post looks at how California could design a rate structure for large load customers to join the electric grid without burdening ratepayers.
A flurry of new comments was filed last month in Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) proposal to implement a new electric tariff bill, one specific to large-load customers (read: data centers). Such tariffs determine the electricity rates a utility can charge each class of customer, and the conditions under which it must provide service. PG&E’s …
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