Is California's Electricity Policy Really a Model for the United States?

Concerns over rising energy prices, climate change, and energy security have many policymakers and analysts promoting demand-side management (DSM) programs and renewable portfolio standards (RPSs). In recent years, California has been cited as the example for the United States to follow in the national mission to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. California purports to have utilized aggressive DSM and efficiency policies to hold its per capita electricity demand 40% below the national average, and the state stands ready to boost its still unachieved 20% RPS to a Herculean 33% by 2020. The present paper aims to make clear, however, that California’s electricity policy is not only unrealistic for the United States but undesirable as well. Continued economic and population growth confirm that the United States’ path to clean, reliable, and affordable electricity will need to be different than the one taken by California.