Phil Matier: Utility Companies Cashing In On California's Renewable Energy Law

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— As more and more solar plants and wind farms come online in California over the next three years the cost of powering our homes and businesses could be going up instead of down as the state relies more on renewable energy sources.

The KCBS and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier said there are a couple of factors at play here. Part of it is that this is a mandated change over to renewable energy (by state law 33 percent of California energy must be from renewable sources).

KCBS and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier:

"When you do something like that, the first thing the utility companies start to do is grab contracts which leads to a spike in prices," he said.

At the same time the idea was to spur interest in energy production so people started building more solar, wind and geo-thermal plants.

But according to Matier, they're going to be charging higher rates which could lead to consumers paying up to 10 to 15 percent more on their electric bill.

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