Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Recent California Supreme Court Opinion in Center for Biological Diversity v. Public Utilities Commission Upends Decades of Statutory Interpretation Deference to CPUC
On August 8, 2025, the California Supreme Court issued an opinion (Center for Biological Diversity v. Public Utilities Commission, S284614 (August 7, 2025)) on a single issue of law specific to the degree of deference afforded to the California Public … Continue reading
Blog # 2 on EPCA Preemption: Benchmarking as the Basis of Building Performance Standards: What Did the State of Colorado and City of Denver Implement?
This is the second blog post in this series looking at the requirements that the State of Colorado and City of Denver adopted to implement building performance standards (Blog # 1 can be accessed here). It will review the benchmarking … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
2 Comments
The Rise of Reach Codes
Last week, the California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted energy efficiency standards to be included in the 2022 state building standards (Title 24, Part 6). The new energy code will further increase building energy efficiency and reduce emissions from California buildings … Continue reading
How has Vehicle-Miles-Traveled flattened Air Pollution in the San Diego Region After Covid-19 Shutdowns?
Co-authored with Bill Brick (San Diego Air Pollution Control District) Over the past several weeks there has been a reduction in daily vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the San Diego region due to Shelter-in-Place orders issued by the Governor of … Continue reading
Posted in Air Pollution, APCD, COVID, GHGs, Greenhouse Gas, Nitrous Oxides, Ozone, Uncategorized, Vehicle Miles Traveled, VMT, Work from Home
Tagged Energy, San Diego, Transportation
Leave a comment
Shelter-in-Place, VMT and Flattening the GHG Curve in San Diego County
Many thanks to Yichao Gu, technical policy analyst, EPIC. Vehicle-Miles-Traveled (VMT) is an important metric. VMT determines gas tax revenues, drives the need for and maintenance of roads, and contributes to air pollution (1) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In … Continue reading
Posted in COVID, Energy, GHGs, Greenhouse Gas, Telecommute, Telework, Transportation, Uncategorized, Vehicle Miles Traveled, VMT, Work from Home
2 Comments
Paying for Carbon Performance
Historically in California, programs to encourage energy-efficient or renewable energy technologies provide upfront financial incentives. While the dollar amounts of these incentives are typically developed in part based on the lifecycle costs and performance of the technology in question, very … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
3 Comments
2019 Introduced Bill Update
With the deadline for the Legislature to introduce bills passing last Friday, we are currently tracking approximately 210 energy, climate, and other related bills for this session. This session marks a higher volume of introduced bills than previous sessions with … Continue reading
Posted in CEQA, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas, Legislation, Renewable Energy, Uncategorized
Tagged 2019, California, Climate Change, Costs, Electricity, Energy, Legislation, Nuclear, Policy, prices, rates, Reform, Renewable Energy, Transportation, Waste
Leave a comment
Legislative Update June 2018
Legislative Update June 2018 The deadline for a bill to pass out of their house of origin occurred on June 1, 2018. The following is a short list of important bills that met this deadline by subject area. A full … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Update on Electric Vehicle CPUC Decision and Other Related Legislation
Transportation electrification is moving ahead in California with the adoption of a CPUC decision and several important bills moving through the legislative process. This blog will briefly discuss the CPUC decision and provide a short summary of related bills. Yesterday, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
The Cost of a CAP Part 6: Limitations
Part of understanding climate action plan (CAP) cost analyses results includes identifying what is not incorporated into the analyses. CAP implementation cost analyses (ICAs) and benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) described in earlier posts have inherent limitations that can create a level … Continue reading
The EPIC Energy Blog 