Abstract
A wide range of factors, including emerging technologies, pioneering environmental policies, relatively high electricity rates in electric investor-owned utility territories and an inefficiently operated electric system are applying pressure to California’s electricity sector and challenging the ability of the state to achieve its high-level energy goals for this sector. Addressing these issues and achieving the state’s high-level energy goals will require the state’s electricity sector to adapt. This means that there is a need to develop and enact new policy actionsand structural reforms. In this thesis, I examine three new structural reforms to California’s electricity sector to address the issues stated above and achieve the state’s high-level energy goals for this sector –affordable, efficient, reliable and environmentally responsible electric service. The structural reforms analyzed include strengthening the existing regulatory framework for the state’s electric investor-owned utilities, creating and expanding the competitive wholesale and retail electric power markets, and a hybrid approach that combines elements of both structural reforms. I assessed each of these structural reforms against how well they met the state’s high-level energy goals for its electricity sector and thereby addressing the issues stated above. This assessment is comprehensive and exploratory with the intent of helping frame policy discussions focused on improving California’s electricity sector. However, based on my assessment, the hybrid approach was the best structural reform to achieve the state’s electricity sector high-level energy goals and address the issues stated above. Recognizing the issues California’s electricity sector faces and the challenges they pose to the state to achieve its high-level energy goals for this sector, it is not a matter of if California’s electricity sector will evolve, but how and when.