Summer has passed and dire predictions of blackouts in California as a result of the state’s much-publicized energy crisis have gone unfulfilled. Instead, California now has more power than it can use and leads the country in energy conservation. A whopping third of the state’s ratepayers have taken part in a new state initiative that credits people who reduce their energy use by 20 percent with a 20 percent discount on their bills. The bad news: State regulators in the short term are still favoring conventional energy sources and shunning renewable ones that could help form the foundation of a more stable energy system.
