Affordable Energy Campaign 

A statewide coalition made up of community, environmental justice, and consumer advocacy organizations.

Campaign Mission

Reduce energy burdens for Californians and firmly advance energy affordability as a justice issue.

The Affordable Energy Campaign

CACE is a proud coalition member of the Affordable Energy Campaign. This statewide initiative unites environmental, environmental justice, consumer, and economic justice organizations to develop and implement solutions that lower energy bills for California families.

Together, the coalition advances policies that reduce ratepayer costs, deploy clean energy to support high-road jobs, and modernize regulatory structures to ensure accountability and community resilience.

California’s Energy Affordability Crisis

California residents are currently struggling with mounting utility debt and an increasing risk of power shutoffs as investor-owned utilities relentlessly pursue major rate hikes. The financial toll is severe:

  • The average past-due debt sits at $738 per household.
  • Over 2.17 million customers across PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E are currently behind on their utility bills.

What is Driving the Crisis?

The campaign identifies three primary drivers forcing costs onto California families:

  1. Underuse of Lower-Cost Alternatives: Rising grid costs are exacerbated by a systemic failure to utilize cheaper, distributed energy alternatives.
  2. Climate-Driven Wildfire Costs: Wildfire mitigation, recovery, and insurance account for roughly one out of every six dollars customers pay.
  3. Misaligned Utility Incentives: The current regulatory framework ties investor-owned utility profits to building more infrastructure, perversely rewarding capital spending over customer savings.
A technician install solar panels on a rooftop in California
Fire burns in a California forest with utility lines crossing through the fure

What We Are Fighting For

The Affordable Energy Campaign is developing concrete policies to deliver real relief. 

The Affordabel Energy Campaign Logo features the outline of a home and a plug coming out of the home with a $ on the plug and a down arrow at the end of the cord, taking the place of the L in Affordable Energy Campaign

The Coalition Demands

Fair Load Planning

Ensuring that large new energy loads, such as data centers, pay their fair share so residential customers do not foot the bill

Emergency Relief

Bill relief and emergency support for households facing unaffordable bills and shutoffs.

Financial Protections

Better financing tools for utility spending to reduce borrowing costs and protect families from bearing the brunt of catastrophic wildfire expenses.

Clean Energy Alternatives

Avoiding unnecessary grid costs by prioritizing alternatives like community power networks, distributed energy resources, and virtual power plants.

CACE’s Role in the Coalition

We joined the Affordable Energy Campaign to bring our member expertise and a specific community energy perspective into broader statewide advocacy spaces.

Our membership in the Affordable Energy Campaign ensures that a localized, community energy perspective is represented in statewide affordability discussions. 

Key Contributions & Actions

Policy Analysis

We contribute targeted research to the campaign, including authoring a white paper analyzing wildfire liability and its economic impacts on ratepayers and community energy programs.

Advocacy Amplification

We mobilize our grassroots network to amplify shared campaign efforts, such as cost-of-capital advocacy.

Strategic Coordination

We participate in coordination meetings to share priorities and build relationships with partner organizations across the state.

To explore how you can help make affordable energy a reality, visit the official Affordable Energy Campaign website.

CACE’s contributions to the Affordable Energy Campaign are supported by a generous grant from the 11th Hour Project. We are excited to coordinate with the Affordable Energy Campaign to advance shared policy and organizing efforts.