Thursday, February 20th, 2025 at 2:00pm
**Note the special 2pm start time**
Shaina Nanavati, Researcher and Organizer
In the aftermath of PG&E’s bankruptcy filing in 2019, The Golden State Energy Act was passed through the California state legislature and signed by Governor Newsom into law. The legislation created Golden State Energy, a non-profit public benefit corporation, to serve as a receiver of PG&E’s assets, in the event that the utility failed to meet certain criteria to reduce utility-caused wildfires.
In the years that followed, environmental justice advocates and proponents of local, decentralized, democratically-controlled clean energy came together to form a coalition of organizations to hold PG&E and the state accountable to its promises. Hitting obstacles and roadblocks at every turn, utility justice advocates continue to sound the alarm for the need for action.
This presentation will share lessons learned from 3.5 years of organizing, research, and advocacy across state agencies and branches of government. A report published last year, shaped by interviews with frontline communities across the country, identified the benefits of transitioning California’s largest IOU into a not-for-profit utility. Using the Justice40 Guiding Policy Priorities as a framework for a shared set of energy justice values, the report opens the door for consideration of a new regulatory approach to the existing IOU model.
