Electricity: portable solar generation devices.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide details on enforcement mechanisms or consequences of non-compliance with registration requirements.

Portable Solar Devices: No Fees and Easy Registration

The bill exempts portable solar devices from interconnection requirements, prohibits fees related to their use, and allows utilities to require simple online registration.

What This Bill Does

• Exempts portable solar generation devices from all interconnection requirements set by state laws, the Public Utilities Commission, electrical corporations, and local publicly owned electric utilities.
• Prohibits electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities from charging fees or making customers take actions related to using a portable solar device.
• Allows electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities to require simple online registration for portable solar devices with details like address and size.

Who It Names or Affects

• Customers who use portable solar generation devices
• Electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities

Terms To Know

Portable Solar Generation Device

A device that uses the sun to generate electricity and can be moved easily.

Interconnection Requirements

Rules set by utilities for connecting devices like solar panels to their electrical systems.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if a customer fails to register their portable solar device.
• It is unclear how the Public Utilities Commission will enforce these new rules.

Official Summary Text

SB 868, as amended, Wiener.
Electricity: portable solar generation devices.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards.
This bill would exempt a portable solar generation device, as defined, from all interconnection requirements imposed by state law, the commission, electrical corporation rules, or local publicly owned electric utility rules, as specified. The bill would prohibit an electrical corporation or a local publicly owned electric utility from requiring a customer using a portable solar generation device to take specified actions, including, among other things, paying any fee or charge related to the device or the electricity the device feeds into a building’s electrical system. The bill would authorize an electrical
corporation or a local publicly owned electric utility to require a customer using a portable solar generation device to notify the electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility, using a simple online registration form, of the address and size of the portable solar generation device, as provided.
Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.
Because a violation of a commission action implementing the bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Additionally, by imposing new duties on local publicly owned electric utilities, 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 specified reasons.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF