Energy The GCVCC generally supports open and efficient markets, promoting competition, reducing costs, technology neutrality, and increasing value to consumers as California transitions to a clean energy future. Public policy should support the development of a more modern and smart/intelligent grid — one that can manage and integrate increasing sources of carbon free energy and distributed generation technologies, while facilitating more customer choice. Businesses must have clear and concise rules (e.g., status of departing load tariffs and standby impacts) for implementing more efficient and reliable distributed and co-generation systems. It is important to have reliable and diverse sources of energy that enable communities to meet California State requirements and allow businesses to have the ability to be competitive in the economy. Energy policies should be applied equally and equitably to all energy consumers, producers, and providers. Rates should more closely reflect the actual cost to serve and reduce crosssubsidies that hide the true cost of delivering electricity to residential customers, which in turn, inflates the cost of electricity to commercial and industrial customers. The State needs to revisit rules governing the adequacy of resources to meet retail load that ensure clear accountability for retail supplies and prevent cost shifting and free-riding by energy consumers who chose alternate providers. All energy consumers should share equitably in the cost of investments in clean energy and other energy resources. The GCVCC supports the development of renewable electricity systems and clean energy technologies to provide jobs and boost the economy while helping the State meet its environmental goals. Recent advances in electric technologies are opening new economic opportunities in California and Riverside County for businesses and consumers alike. Once the most expensive resources available, today wind and solar are among the most competitive energy resources available in electricity markets. The proliferation of electric vehicles, including fuel cell vehicles, and innovations in other end uses, such as electric heat pump technologies, are continually driving down the costs of these technologies and providing clean, efficient and affordable options for residents and businesses. Riverside County is well positioned to take advantage of the emerging economic opportunities that these clean energy technologies and renewable energy resources present. Deregulation of natural gas at the wellhead began when Congress passed the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978. This legislation ended federal control over the wellhead price of “new” gas on January 1, 1985, but kept in place price controls for gas produced from wells drilled prior to 1977. In 1989, the Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act lifted all remaining federal wellhead price controls on natural gas. Since then, the price of natural gas across the United States has been subject to market forces, rising and falling with changes in supply and demand. In this competitive market, the price of natural gas is set between all buyers (including industrial users, power generators, marketers and gas utilities like Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric) and all
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