After years of failed attempts, California lawmakers have cleared the way to create an electricity-trading market that would stretch across the U.S. West. Advocates say that could cut the region’s power costs by billions of dollars and support the growth of renewable energy. But opponents say it may make the state’s climate and clean-energy policies vulnerable to the Trump administration.

Those are the fault lines over AB 825, also known as the ​“Pathways Initiative” bill, which was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 19 as part of a major climate-and-energy legislative package. The law will grant the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which runs the transmission grid and energy markets in most of the state, the authority to collaborate with other states and utilities across the West to create a shared day-ahead energy-trading regime.

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