SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) Climate change is already having dramatic effects on the operations of the electrical grid and the continuity of electric service to customers in California. High winds, dry weather conditions, and large-scale tree die-offs associated with a changing climate have contributed to increased risk of fires from electrical operations. Under these climate change-related conditions, utility infrastructure has already sparked several catastrophic wildfires, including the Camp Fire, Thomas Fire, North Bay Fires, and others.
(2) This increased fire risk has, in turn, lead to numerous intentional
deenergizations of the electrical corporations’ distribution grids, commonly known as public safety power shutoffs, in late 2019 to prevent fires from occurring. In 2019, all three of the state’s largest electrical corporations experienced multiple public safety power shutoffs, resulting in over 2,000,000 customers experiencing blackouts in October alone.
(3) In addition, California has set a goal of generating 33 percent of total retail sales of electricity in the state from eligible renewable energy resources by December 31, 2020, and 60 percent by December 31, 2030.
(4) California has also set a goal of doubling the energy efficiency of the state’s buildings by 2030.
(5) Local governments and agencies and tribal authorities in California are increasingly adopting climate-related goals for resiliency and
decarbonization, and developing local programs to achieve these goals.
(6) Energy technologies are rapidly advancing in performance and scalability while declining in cost to enable locally driven projects to contribute to a more decentralized, more resilient, and more cost-effective electrical grid.
(7) The legacy 20th-century operational and regulatory frameworks of the electrical corporations were not designed for smart, dispatchable resources at the distribution level, or for high penetration of local energy resources and locally driven energy projects, and therefore present significant barriers to participation by local governments and diverse third parties to contribute to the needed grid transformation.
(8) Open access to the grid can pave the way for local governments, large energy users, local energy
generators, homeowners, and other third parties to participate in projects and behaviors that increase the safety, reliability, and resiliency of the electrical grid, particularly during emergencies and public safety power shutoffs, while helping the state meet its clean energy and energy efficiency goals.
(9) More open access to the electrical grid also increases the pace and degree of innovation, economic development, and job growth resulting in new technologies that can lower the cost of renewable energy integration into the grid and lower costs for ratepayers in meeting the state’s energy goals.
(10) As third parties participate more in grid-related activities, the state will need to increase accountability for all industry participants and help all parties in the market make informed decisions about when, where, and how to provide electricity in a way that increases the
safety, reliability, and resiliency of the electricity grid and reduces the need to build additional powerplants and transmission lines, resulting in lower costs for the ratepayer.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to identify regulatory and industry barriers and assess potential solutions to creating more open access to the electrical distribution grid and facilitating local government and third-party participation in various aspects of powering and operating the distribution grid to increase the safety, reliability, and resiliency of the electrical grid.