Microgrid incentive program.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not specify what happens if there are no remaining unallocated funds by January 1, 2027.

Microgrid Incentive Program

The Microgrid Incentive Program requires large electrical corporations to report on the status of funds collected for microgrids and ensures that any unallocated funds are allocated to areas with frequent power outages, prioritizing vulnerable communities.

What This Bill Does

• Requires each large electrical corporation to provide a report to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) by January 15, 2026, on the status of awarded or unallocated funds collected for the Microgrid Incentive Program.
• If additional actions are needed using funds collected by January 1, 2026, the PUC may consider hiring a third-party administrator to allocate remaining funds to areas that have experienced two or more deenergization events, prioritizing vulnerable communities and critical community infrastructure.

Who It Names or Affects

• Large electrical corporations in California
• Vulnerable populations impacted by grid outages

Terms To Know

Microgrid

A small-scale power network that can operate independently or in conjunction with the main electricity grid.

Third-party administrator

An independent organization hired to manage and oversee a program on behalf of others.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if there are no remaining unallocated funds by January 1, 2027.
• It is unclear how the PUC will determine which areas have experienced two or more deenergization events.

Official Summary Text

SB 453, as amended, Stern.
Microgrid incentive program.
(2)
Existing
Existing
law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the Independent System Operator, to take specified actions by December 1, 2020, to facilitate the commercialization of microgrids for distribution customers of large electrical corporations, including, among other actions, by, without shifting costs between ratepayers, developing methods to reduce barriers for microgrid deployment.
Under existing law, the PUC requires certain large electrical corporations to jointly develop a Microgrid Incentive Program to fund clean energy microgrids to support the critical needs of vulnerable populations impacted by a grid outage.
This bill would require the PUC to require each electrical corporation to provide to the commission, on or before January 15, 2026, the status of any awarded or unallocated funds collected for the Microgrid Incentive Program. The bill would require the commission, after reviewing that information, if it determines additional
actions
actions, using funds collected on or before January 1, 2026,
are needed, to consider the use of a third-party administrator and to ensure that unallocated funds are allocated to areas that have experienced 2 or
more deenergization events, prioritizing vulnerable communities, including access and functional needs populations, and prioritizing customers that operate critical community infrastructure that supports resiliency during a deenergization event.
The bill would require, if there are remaining unallocated funds on January 1, 2027, that those funds to be returned to ratepayers.
(3)
Under
Under
existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Because a violation of a PUC action implementing the bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF