Volts Tom Steyer wants to be California's climate governor
9 snips
Apr 27, 2026 
Tom Steyer, billionaire financier turned climate activist running for California governor, discusses cutting electricity bills and reshaping utility incentives. He outlines boosting local competition, using tech and AI to raise grid utilization, tackling wildfire and transit costs, and funding housing by closing a corporate Prop 13 loophole. Short, policy-forward talk on affordability-focused climate strategies.
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Monopoly Incentives Inflate California Rates
- Tom Steyer argues investor-owned utilities' guaranteed 10% return on equity incentivizes gold-plating capital projects and raises rates.
- He cites municipal utilities charging ~half as much and says lowering allowed returns and oversight can cut costs.
Use Local Competition To Force Price Cuts
- Enable local retail competition and community choice aggregators to force investor-owned utilities to lower prices.
- Use poles and wires for distribution while letting local solar-plus-battery projects supply cheaper retail energy at ~3–4¢/kWh.
IT And AI Can Nearly Double Grid Capacity
- Steyer highlights raising grid utilization via IT and AI can nearly double capacity (35% to ~60%) without rebuilding lines.
- He references Iowa pilots using sensors to increase capacity at low cost versus costly rebuilds.
