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The Senate Energy Utilities & Commerce Committee approved legislation seeking to speed up the decarbonization of the grid, including by picking up the pace of transmission upgrades to accommodate higher levels of fossil-free energy. The panel also passed bills that direct state regulators to penalize utilities and other energy providers for falling short of their clean energy targets and to limit shoddy installations of heating and cooling systems.

SB 887 by Sen. Josh Becker (D-San Mateo) aims to advance grid modernization by extending the electricity planning horizons of the California Energy Commission and Public Utilities Commission from 10 to 15-years. It also would require approval of at least one of the 23 projects proposed in the California Independent System Operator’s 2022-23 transmission plan . The nearly two dozen projects would cost an estimated $3 billion.

“We can’t get to 100 percent clean energy without needed transmission,” Becker told the committee March 28. The measure also seeks to avoid continued reliance on gas-fired power plants because of transmission bottlenecks.

“We need to start now to reach our clean energy goals,” said Michael Colvin, EDF California Energy Program director.

Earlier, CAISO released its first-ever 20-year transmission plan , which relies on the CEC and CPUC long-term forecasts. Becker said the $30 billion, 20-year plan was “an important step.”

Sen. Brian Dahly (R-Redding) applauded SB 887, passed 13-0, because of the high cost to consumers of excess renewables that now are exported because of in-state transmission inadequacies. He said that generated renewables that can’t be used in the state cost ratepayers $1 billion a year .

The measure is opposed by the Independent Energy Producers. IEP executive director Jan Smutny Jones said a 15-year planning horizon may impede the planning and approval process.

Also approved early this week was SB 1174 by Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles), which seeks to lower barriers to new transmission under resource adequacy rules.

It is “one of the least attention-grabbing bills,” but one of the most important that “connects bold planning with common-sense policy,” according to Hertzberg.

SB 1174 directs state energy agencies to identify and advance “all interconnection or transmission approvals necessary” needed for the state to reach its 100% clean energy goals.

The bill also aims to clear the transmission queue backlog and adds reporting requirements for resource adequacy, including how to “adequately account” for the sufficiency of monthly capacity levels, said the EDF’s Colvin.

Approved by the committee on a 10-0 vote, SB 1174 heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 881 by Sen. David Min (D-Irvine) would require the CPUC to impose penalties on utilities, community energy and other energy providers that fail to meet the clean energy and carbon reduction targets set forth in their Integrated Resources Plans. The bill, passed on an 8-2 vote, also would allow the CPUC to set protective procurement requirements to address any capacity gaps.

“We need this narrow, but necessary statutory clarification,” Mark Sprecht with the Union of Concerned Scientists told the Committee. He said the state has robust planning but does not require the procurement of clean energy necessary to meet the state’s decarbonization goals.

SB 881 is sponsored by the Union for Concerned Scientists.

“It will strengthen oversight and the performance of utilities and other load serving entities,” said V. John White, representing the Clean Power Campaign.

This legislation is opposed by Southern California Edison, other investor-owned utilities and community aggregators across the state.

Andrew Kosydar, SCE’s government relations advisor, said removing the CPUC’s discretion to waive fines for falling short of emission reduction goals would penalize utilities for factors outside their control, such as the pandemic or third parties failing to build a project on time.

Jeff Syphers, Sonoma Clean Power executive director representing California community energy, added the measure would limit power providers’ ability to attain cost-effective climate goals.

Also approved was SB 1164 by Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles). Stern’s bill seeks to address the significant number of installations of heating and cooling systems that are unpermitted and fail to meet energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction mandates.

“Thousands and thousands of HVAC systems are not installed properly” Stern warned, adding that shoddy installations can drive up energy consumption by 20%.

Scott Wetch, California State Pipe Trades Council lobbyist, said that 90% of the installations circumvent the Title 24 building code.

The trades council and Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers sponsored the bill.

SB 1164 directs the California Air Resources Board and CEC to establish a central repository that tracks the sales of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, building construction and installations.

The legislation passed on a 12-0 vote. It will be heard next in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

Also approved was Stern’s SB 1261, which would provide grants to install electric heat pumps that also cool the air and other energy efficiency retrofits to protect those living in regions that suffer brutally hot days worsened by the climate crisis.

“We need to address the inequity of the most vulnerable,” including the elderly, those with heart conditions, and pregnant women, who all face the highest risks from soaring temperatures, Stern said.