“In-state coal-fired generation in both 2015 and 2016, according to the California Energy Commission, made up just 0.2 percent of the state’s electric load. Only one coal-fired plant remains in operation in California — the 63-megawatt Argus Cogen plant in the town of Trona in San Bernardino County.
California does import electricity from coal-fired plants in other states but in 2016 the amount came to 4 percent of total generation and the Energy Commission expects imports to drop to zero by 2026.
Consumer advocates such as Consumer Watchdog and San Diego attorneys Michael Aguirre and Maria Severson are opposed to the bill, with the lawyers saying in a letter to California Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, that the bill would lead to energy market deregulation, “leaving Californians at the mercy of speculators.””
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