The California Chamber of Commerce yesterday tagged AB 127 (Committee on Budget) as a job killer. The bill threatens energy reliability by mandating the closure of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility.
AB 127 will be heard in the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee today.
CalChamber has identified AB 127 as a job killer because it will eliminate jobs and place regional energy reliability at risk.
According to CalChamber’s opposition letter, the Aliso Canyon storage facility is integral to providing electricity and natural gas to Southern California. If Aliso Canyon is not operational, this could lead to a lack of capacity necessary to run the electric grid, resulting in job loss and potential public safety, health and negative economic consequences.
The ability to inject and produce natural gas from the Aliso Canyon facility is important to maintaining a reliable energy supply throughout Southern California. Moreover, the region that Aliso Canyon serves is an economic powerhouse for California.
Well over 5 million Californians work with private sector employers in various fields from aerospace and biotech to goods movement and manufacturing. The region features key industries where the impacts of energy reliability, both natural gas or electricity, would cause major disruptions and ripple through the economy, affecting goods movement and the production of transportation fuels, industrial chemicals and medical gases, among others.
Last session, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 380 (Pavley; D-Agoura Hills; Chapter 14), mandating an extensive, multi-agency safety review and public hearing process to evaluate the Aliso Canyon facility. The steps required under this recently enacted law are underway. It is premature to mandate the elimination of this facility before the state agencies undertaking this extensive process have made a final decision, CalChamber argues in its letter.
Action Needed
AB 127 is awaiting action on the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee today.
CalChamber is urging members to contact their Senators and ask them to oppose AB 127 as a job killer.
Staff Contact: Amy Mmagu
