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Among the bills moving ahead in the Legislature are ones backing installations of clean microgrids in fire-prone communities and adding fees to net metered small solar rooftops.

The key local community microgrid measure is SB 99 by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa). It would create a grant and technical assistance program at the California Energy Commission to help local entities design and install clean microgrids in optimal locations. It also aims to help put local government staff on equal footing with utility staff as they work together on installations of community solar and battery storage projects and other non-polluting microgrids.

“Power outages in recent years have cost California billions, and the emissions from backup generators pose a huge threat to our environment,” Dodd stated May 25.

Sen. Bill Dodd

SB 99 prioritizes “the development of alternate power sources so everyone can keep their lights on--regardless of their income level or economic status,” Dodd added.

The legislation is in response to the hundreds of megawatts of diesel-powered backup systems installed because of the rise in wildfires and power shutoffs.

The legislation sailed through the Senate Monday on a 40-0 vote.

Also, on the Senate Floor is SB 533 by Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles), which would require utilities to identify circuits frequently turned off during dangerous fire conditions. It also directs utilities to work with local governments to develop microgrids that would supply power when those circuits are de-energized.

The controversial AB 1139 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzales (D-San Diego), which steps into the middle of the net metering tug-of-war over fees and other terms before the California Public Utilities Commission, also advanced. Her bill would impose interconnection fees and a monthly charge on homes and businesses with solar rooftops.

Opponents contend it would increase solar owners' costs by an average $70 per month and slash the credit for solar sent back to the grid by 80%.

AB 1139 awaits a vote on the Assembly Floor.

Also continuing to move ahead is SB 612 by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada-Flintridge). It would allow community aggregators and other providers to access the benefits of costly utility generation they pay for—early renewable contracts and utility-owned generation. The above market costs of these utility legacy resources show up in the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment fee imposed by the California Public Utilities Commission on community energy, other providers and ratepayers.

In related news, the CPUC agreed last week only to require the investor-owned utilities to sell to non utility providers a share of their renewable contracts. The commissioners declined also to distribute the utility resource adequacy and greenhouse gas-free emission attributes, as recommended by a working group. Last February, the California Community Choice Association, Southern California Edison, and the consulting firm Commercial Energy released a joint report. It detailed for the Commission agreements reached on the allocation of unused resources accumulating in utility portfolios due to a shrinking customer base.

SB 612 awaits a Senate Floor vote.

Another Assembly measure moving ahead is AB 1110 by Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister). It would establish the California Clean Fleet Accelerator Program administered by the Department of General Services to provide small local governments and rural public entities needed technical and financial support to buy zero emission vehicles. It awaits a vote on the Assembly Floor.

Bills stopped in their tracks

Bills that failed to advance include SB 260 by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), which would have mandated that companies with more than $1 billion in revenue that do business in California publicly disclose their onsite and offsite greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2024.

SB 30 by Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) would have mandated that state buildings and assets be carbon-neutral by 2035. The state also would have been required to divest from projects that are not emissions-free by 2023.

Another building decarbonization measure by Cortese also failed to move ahead. His SB 31 would have developed new building decarbonization programs through the CEC and CPUC, with a focus on low-income communities.

SB 67 by Sen. Josh Becker (D-San Mateo) would have required that renewables and zero-carbon sources supply the state around the clock.

Becker’s SB 345 would have required the CPUC to establish common definitions of the non-energy benefits of distributed energy resources—including improved air quality and public health, and bill savings.

SB 437 by Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) would have mandated that publicly owned utilities include in their integrated resource updates their plans for transportation electrification, both for light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

SB 756 by Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) sought to make more households eligible for weatherization assistance by including those with incomes up to 250% of the federal poverty line, up from 200%.

AB 427 by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer Kahan (D-Orinda) would have set a deadline for the CPUC to set a capacity value for customer solar and storage projects, turning them into virtual power plants.

AB 699 by Asssemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) aimed to increase the use of appliances that can be controlled remotely–-whether air conditioners or water heaters—to allow their energy use to be reduced as needed to ease the strain on the grid.