AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2026
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2026
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 18, 2026
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2026
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2026
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
94
Introduced by Assembly Member Rogers
February 19, 2026
An act to amend Sections 454.52 and 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal committee: yes Local program: no
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations.
Existing law requires the PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan, and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the Independent System Operator (ISO), to determine if there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources based on a review of the integrated resource plans.
This bill would require the PUC, when requiring procurement of resources under an integrated resource plan, to account for the ability of energy-only resources to achieve required clean energy deployment rates, to charge storage resources during off-peak periods, and to increase resource diversity, and would require the PUC to enable energy-only resources to satisfy procurement requirements to the maximum extent feasible.
Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to provide transmission-focused guidance to the ISO about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, as specified, to allow the ISO to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers.
This bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to identify cost-effective opportunities to enable planned or operating energy-only resources to obtain deliverability through transmission capacity expansions, and to request the ISO to reserve associated deliverability for geothermal and wind. The bill would require the commission to designate energy-only resources as long lead-time resources for purposes of the ISO’s scoring in its interconnection process, as specified.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2476 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2476 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2111 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2111 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
454.52.
(a) (1) Beginning in 2017, and to be updated regularly thereafter, the commission shall adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan, and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan, and shall ensure that load-serving entities do all of the following:
(A) Meet the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets established by the State Air Resources Board, in coordination with the commission and the Energy Commission, for the electricity sector and each load-serving entity that reflect the electricity sector’s percentage in achieving the economywide greenhouse gas emissions reductions pursuant to Section 38566 of the Health and Safety Code.
(B) Procure at least 60 percent eligible renewable energy resources by December 31, 2030, consistent with the state policy specified in Section 454.53 and Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3.
(C) Enable each electrical corporation to fulfill its obligation to serve its customers at just and reasonable rates.
(D) Minimize impacts on ratepayers’ bills.
(E) (i) Ensure system and local reliability on a short-term, midterm, and long-term basis, including meeting the short-term and forecast long-term resource adequacy requirements of Section 380, and require sufficient, predictable resource procurement and development to avoid unplanned energy supply shortfalls by taking into account impacts due to climate change, forecasted levels of building and transportation electrification, and other factors that can result in those shortfalls.
(ii) In furtherance of avoiding unplanned energy supply shortfalls or expensive emergency procurement and ensuring a more accurate understanding of electrical grid operational needs, the commission shall aggregate reported short-term and midterm resource procurement from all load-serving entities conducted under Section 380 or this section and assess midterm resource sufficiency, and annually provide anonymized reports to the Independent System Operator. The commission shall report forward resource procurement using counting conventions that provide the data to the Independent System Operator to be used in its grid planning.
(iii) To accomplish clause (i), the commission shall, as part of the integrated planning process, assess short-term, midterm, and long-term reliability by conducting probabilistic reliability modeling, including if there is sufficient capacity available for procurement in the short term and midterm by all load-serving entities to meet their procurement requirements. The commission shall review the results of that reliability modeling in a public proceeding at the same frequency as the forecast conducted in accordance with this section. When modeling short-term and midterm reliability, the commission shall model all procurement consistent with clause (ii) and may rely upon or incorporate probabilistic reliability modeling conducted by the Energy Commission into the commission’s public process. The commission shall also report the modeling results in the joint Reliability Planning Assessments conducted under Section 25233 of the Public Resources Code.
(F) Comply with paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.13.
(G) Strengthen the diversity, sustainability, and resilience of the bulk transmission and distribution systems, and local communities.
(H) Enhance distribution systems and demand-side energy management.
(I) Minimize localized air pollutants and other greenhouse gas emissions, with early priority on disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(J) Maintain a diverse portfolio of energy resources, which may include eligible energy resources procured by the Department of Water Resources.
(2) (A) The commission may authorize all source procurement for load-serving entities that includes various resource types including demand-side resources, supply-side resources, and resources that may be either demand-side resources or supply-side resources, taking into account the differing load-serving entities’ geographic service areas, to ensure that each load-serving entity meets the goals set forth in paragraph (1).
(B) The commission may approve procurement of resource types that will reduce the overall emissions of greenhouse gases from the electricity sector and meet the other goals specified in paragraph (1), but due to the nature of the technology or fuel source may not compete favorably in price against other resources over the time period of the integrated resource plan.
(3) In furtherance of the requirements of paragraph (1), the commission shall consider the role of existing renewable generation, grid operational efficiencies, energy storage, and distributed energy resources, including energy efficiency, in helping to ensure each load-serving entity meets energy needs and reliability needs in hours to encompass the hour of peak demand of electricity, excluding demand met by variable renewable generation directly connected to a California balancing authority, as defined in Section 399.12, while reducing the need for new electricity generation resources and new transmission resources in achieving the state’s energy goals at the least cost to ratepayers.
(4) (A) On or before September 1, 2024, and consistent with the process and schedule adopted pursuant to paragraph (1), the commission, in consultation with the Energy Commission and the Independent System Operator, shall determine if there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources based on a review of the integrated resource plans submitted by load-serving entities in compliance with the requirements of this section and Section 454.53 and the progress towards meeting the portfolio of resources identified pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 454.51.
(B) If the commission determines that there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources, the commission shall specify the eligible energy resources that should be procured to meet that need.
(C) Within six months of determining that there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources, the commission may request the Department of Water Resources to exercise its central procurement function to procure those eligible energy resources specified pursuant to subparagraph (B) that meet the portfolio of resources identified in subdivision (a) of Section 454.51.
(D) (i) Upon receiving a request pursuant to subparagraph (C), the Department of Water Resources, before January 1, 2035, may exercise its central procurement function to conduct one or more competitive solicitations and enter into contracts to procure eligible energy resources in order to achieve the policy of the state specified in Section 454.53.
(ii) Any contract entered into by the Department of Water Resources pursuant to clause (i) and approved by the commission pursuant to Section 80821 of the Water Code before January 1, 2035, shall remain in force for the duration of the contract.
(E) The Department of Water Resources’ exercising of its central procurement function to procure eligible energy resources pursuant to this paragraph shall be conducted in accordance with Division 29.5 (commencing with Section 80800) of the Water Code.
(5) When requiring procurement pursuant to this subdivision, including, but not limited to, ad hoc procurement orders and programmatic requirements, the commission shall account for the ability of energy-only resources to achieve required clean energy deployment rates, to charge storage resources during off-peak periods, and to increase resource diversity, and shall enable energy-only resources to satisfy procurement requirements to the maximum extent feasible.
(b) (1) Each load-serving entity shall prepare and file an integrated resource plan consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) on a time schedule directed by the commission and subject to commission review.
(2) Each electrical corporation’s plan shall follow Section 454.5.
(3) The plan of a community choice aggregator shall be submitted to its governing board for approval and provided to the commission for certification, consistent with paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 366.2, and shall achieve all of the following:
(A) Economic, reliability, environmental, security, and other benefits and performance characteristics that are consistent with the goals set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).
(B) A diversified procurement portfolio consisting of short-term, midterm, and long-term electricity, electricity-related, and demand reduction products.
(C) The resource adequacy requirements established pursuant to Section 380.
(4) The plan of an electric service provider shall achieve the goals set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) through a diversified portfolio consisting of short-term, midterm, and long-term electricity, electricity-related, and demand reduction products.
(c) To the extent that additional procurement is authorized for the electrical corporation in the integrated resource plan or the procurement process authorized pursuant to Section 454.5, the commission shall ensure that the costs are allocated in a fair and equitable manner to all customers consistent with Section 454.51, that there is no cost shifting among customers of load-serving entities, and that community choice aggregators may self-provide renewable integration resources consistent with Section 454.51. The commission may order the procurement of resources with specific attributes by load-serving entities as a result of the integrated resource planning process and shall enforce any resource procurement requirements on a nondiscriminatory basis. Enforcement may include the assessment of penalties for noncompliance.
(d) To eliminate redundancy and increase efficiency, the process adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall incorporate, and not duplicate, any other planning processes of the commission.
(e) This section applies to an electrical cooperative, as defined in Section 2776, only if the electrical cooperative has an annual electrical demand exceeding 700 gigawatthours, as determined based on a three-year average commencing with January 1, 2013.
(f) (1) The commission shall not include the energy, capacity, or any attribute from Diablo Canyon Unit 1 beyond November 1, 2024, or Unit 2 beyond August 26, 2025, in the adopted integrated resource plan portfolios, resource stacks, or preferred system plans.
(2) The commission shall disallow a load-serving entity from including in their adopted integrated resource plan any energy, capacity, or any attribute from the Diablo Canyon Unit 1 beyond November 1, 2024, or Unit 2 beyond August 26, 2025.
(g) For a thermal powerplant that uses nuclear fission technology not constructed in the twenty-first century, all resource attributes shall be retired on January 1, 2031, and shall be reported as a separate, line item resource for purposes of complying with Section 398.4.
(h) (1) Only a new energy resource that meets all of the following requirements is eligible to be procured by the Department of Water Resources pursuant to this section:
(A) The resource directly supports attainment of the goals specified in Section 454.53 without increasing the state’s dependence on any fossil fuel-based resources.
(B) The resource is determined by the commission to not be under contract at sufficient levels as shown in load-serving entities’ most recent individual integrated resource plans submitted to and reviewed by the commission pursuant to this section to achieve the goals specified in Section 454.53.
(C) The resource has a construction and development lead time of at least five years.
(D) The resource does not generate electricity using fossil fuels or fuels derived from fossil fuels.
(E) The resource does not use combustion to generate electricity, unless that combustion use is ancillary and necessary to facilitate geothermal electricity generation.
(2) Resources from a pump hydroelectric facility may be procured by the Department of Water Resources pursuant to this section if the pump hydroelectric facility does not exceed 500 megawatts and has been directly appropriated funding by the state before January 1, 2023.
(i) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions apply:
(1) “Load-serving entity” has the same meaning as defined in Section 380.
(2) “Long term” means a time period that includes five or more years in the future.
(3) “Midterm” means a time period between two and five years in the future.
(4) “Short term” means a time period between the present and two years in the future.
SEC. 1.5.
Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
454.52.
(a) (1) Beginning in 2017, and to be updated regularly thereafter, the commission shall adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan, and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan, and shall ensure that load-serving entities do all of the following:
(A) Meet the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets established by the State Air Resources Board, in coordination with the commission and the Energy Commission, for the electricity sector and each load-serving entity that reflect the electricity sector’s percentage in achieving the economywide greenhouse gas emissions reductions pursuant to Section 38566 of the Health and Safety Code.
(B) Procure at least 60 percent eligible renewable energy resources by December 31, 2030, consistent with the state policy specified in Section 454.53 and Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3.
(C) Enable each electrical corporation to fulfill its obligation to serve its customers at just and reasonable rates.
(D) Minimize impacts on ratepayers’ bills.
(E) (i) Ensure system and local reliability on a short-term, midterm, and long-term basis, including meeting the short-term and forecast long-term resource adequacy requirements of Section 380, and require sufficient, predictable resource procurement and development to avoid unplanned energy supply shortfalls by taking into account impacts due to climate change, forecasted levels of building and transportation electrification, and other factors that can result in those shortfalls.
(ii) In furtherance of avoiding unplanned energy supply shortfalls or expensive emergency procurement and ensuring a more accurate understanding of electrical grid operational needs, the commission shall aggregate reported short-term and midterm resource procurement from all load-serving entities conducted under Section 380 or this section and assess midterm resource sufficiency, and annually provide anonymized reports to the Independent System Operator. The commission shall report forward resource procurement using counting conventions that provide the data to the Independent System Operator to be used in its grid planning.
(iii) To accomplish clause (i), the commission shall, as part of the integrated planning process, assess short-term, midterm, and long-term reliability by conducting probabilistic reliability modeling, including if there is sufficient capacity available for procurement in the short term and midterm by all load-serving entities to meet their procurement requirements. The commission shall review the results of that reliability modeling in a public proceeding at the same frequency as the forecast conducted in accordance with this section. When modeling short-term and midterm reliability, the commission shall model all procurement consistent with clause (ii) and may rely upon or incorporate probabilistic reliability modeling conducted by the Energy Commission into the commission’s public process. The commission shall also report the modeling results in the joint Reliability Planning Assessments conducted under Section 25233 of the Public Resources Code.
(F) Comply with paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.13.
(G) Strengthen the diversity, sustainability, and resilience of the bulk transmission and distribution systems, and local communities.
(H) Enhance distribution systems and demand-side energy management.
(I) Minimize localized air pollutants and other greenhouse gas emissions, with early priority on disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(J) Maintain a diverse portfolio of energy resources, which may include eligible energy resources procured by the Department of Water Resources.
(2) (A) The commission may authorize all source procurement for load-serving entities that includes various resource types including demand-side resources, supply-side resources, and resources that may be either demand-side resources or supply-side resources, taking into account the differing load-serving entities’ geographic service areas, to ensure that each load-serving entity meets the goals set forth in paragraph (1).
(B) The commission may approve procurement of resource types that will reduce the overall emissions of greenhouse gases from the electricity sector and meet the other goals specified in paragraph (1), but due to the nature of the technology or fuel source may not compete favorably in price against other resources over the time period of the integrated resource plan.
(3) In furtherance of the requirements of paragraph (1), the commission shall consider the role of existing renewable generation, grid operational efficiencies, energy storage, and distributed energy resources, including energy efficiency, in helping to ensure each load-serving entity meets energy needs and reliability needs in hours to encompass the hour of peak demand of electricity, excluding demand met by variable renewable generation directly connected to a California balancing authority, as defined in Section 399.12, while reducing the need for new electricity generation resources and new transmission resources in achieving the state’s energy goals at the least cost to ratepayers.
(4) (A) On or before September 1, 2024, and consistent with the process and schedule adopted pursuant to paragraph (1), the commission, in consultation with the Energy Commission and the Independent System Operator, shall determine if there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources based on a review of the integrated resource plans submitted by load-serving entities in compliance with the requirements of this section and Section 454.53 and the progress towards meeting the portfolio of resources identified pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 454.51.
(B) If the commission determines that there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources, the commission shall specify the eligible energy resources that should be procured to meet that need.
(C) Within six months of determining that there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources, the commission may request the Department of Water Resources to exercise its central procurement function to procure those eligible energy resources specified pursuant to subparagraph (B) that meet the portfolio of resources identified in subdivision (a) of Section 454.51.
(D) (i) Upon receiving a request pursuant to subparagraph (C), the Department of Water Resources, before January 1, 2035, may exercise its central procurement function to conduct one or more competitive solicitations and enter into contracts to procure eligible energy resources in order to achieve the policy of the state specified in Section 454.53.
(ii) Any contract entered into by the Department of Water Resources pursuant to clause (i) and approved by the commission pursuant to Section 80821 of the Water Code before January 1, 2035, shall remain in force for the duration of the contract.
(E) The Department of Water Resources’ exercising of its central procurement function to procure eligible energy resources pursuant to this paragraph shall be conducted in accordance with Division 29.5 (commencing with Section 80800) of the Water Code.
(5) When requiring procurement pursuant to this subdivision, including, but not limited to, ad hoc procurement orders and programmatic requirements, the commission shall account for the ability of energy-only resources to achieve required clean energy deployment rates, to charge storage resources during off-peak periods, and to increase resource diversity, and shall enable energy-only resources to satisfy procurement requirements to the maximum extent feasible.
(b) (1) Each load-serving entity shall prepare and file an integrated resource plan consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) on a time schedule directed by the commission and subject to commission review.
(2) Each electrical corporation’s plan shall follow Section 454.5.
(3) The plan of a community choice aggregator shall be submitted to its governing board for approval and provided to the commission for certification, consistent with paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 366.2, and shall achieve all of the following:
(A) Economic, reliability, environmental, security, and other benefits and performance characteristics that are consistent with the goals set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).
(B) A diversified procurement portfolio consisting of short-term, midterm, and long-term electricity, electricity-related, and demand reduction products.
(C) The resource adequacy requirements established pursuant to Section 380.
(4) The plan of an electric service provider shall achieve the goals set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) through a diversified portfolio consisting of short-term, midterm, and long-term electricity, electricity-related, and demand reduction products.
(c) To the extent that additional procurement is authorized for the electrical corporation in the integrated resource plan or the procurement process authorized pursuant to Section 454.5, the commission shall ensure that the costs are allocated in a fair and equitable manner to all customers consistent with Section 454.51, that there is no cost shifting among customers of load-serving entities, and that community choice aggregators may self-provide renewable integration resources consistent with Section 454.51. The commission may order the procurement of resources with specific attributes by load-serving entities as a result of the integrated resource planning process and shall enforce any resource procurement requirements on a nondiscriminatory basis. Enforcement may include the assessment of penalties for noncompliance.
(d) To eliminate redundancy and increase efficiency, the process adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall incorporate, and not duplicate, any other planning processes of the commission.
(e) This section applies to an electrical cooperative, as defined in Section 2776, only if the electrical cooperative has an annual electrical demand exceeding 700 gigawatthours, as determined based on a three-year average commencing with January 1, 2013.
(f) (1) The commission shall not include the energy, capacity, or any attribute from Diablo Canyon Unit 1 beyond November 1, 2024, or Unit 2 beyond August 26, 2025, in the adopted integrated resource plan portfolios, resource stacks, or preferred system plans.
(2) The commission shall disallow a load-serving entity from including in their adopted integrated resource plan any energy, capacity, or any attribute from the Diablo Canyon Unit 1 beyond November 1, 2024, or Unit 2 beyond August 26, 2025.
(g) For a thermal powerplant that uses nuclear fission technology not constructed in the twenty-first
21st century, all resource attributes shall be retired on January 1, 2031, and shall be reported as a separate, separate line item resource for purposes of complying with Section 398.4.
(h) (1) Only a new energy resource that meets all of the following requirements is eligible to be procured by the Department of Water Resources pursuant to this section:
(A) The resource directly supports attainment of the goals specified in Section 454.53 without increasing the state’s dependence on any fossil fuel-based resources.
(B) The resource is determined by the commission to not be under contract at sufficient levels as shown in load-serving entities’ most recent individual integrated resource plans submitted to and reviewed by the commission pursuant to this section to achieve the goals specified in Section 454.53.
(C) The resource has a construction and development lead time of at least five years.
(D) The resource does not generate electricity using fossil fuels or fuels derived from fossil fuels.
(E) The resource does not use combustion to generate electricity, unless that combustion use is ancillary and necessary to facilitate geothermal electricity generation.
(2) Resources from a pump hydroelectric facility may be procured by the Department of Water Resources pursuant to this section if the pump hydroelectric
facility does not exceed 500 megawatts and has been directly appropriated funding by the state before January 1, 2023.
megawatts.
(i) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions apply:
(1) “Load-serving entity” has the same meaning as defined in Section 380.
(2) “Long term” means a time period that includes five or more years in the future.
(3) “Midterm” means a time period between two and five years in the future.
(4) “Short term” means a time period between the present and two years in the future.
SEC. 2.
Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
454.57.
(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Accelerating Renewable Energy Delivery Act.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The commission, the Energy Commission, and the State Air Resources Board have jointly estimated that the state’s installed electrical generation may need a threefold increase in capacity to meet state carbon-free electricity policy targets.
(2) Record-setting renewable energy generation build rates are needed to meet the goals of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program and the Senate Bill 100 (Chapter 312 of the Statutes of 2018) target of supplying 100 percent of retail sales of electricity from renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. However, these build rates are not achievable without additional electrical transmission lines and facilities connecting new resources to consumers in the state’s load centers.
(3) In recent years, California has seen problems in delivering renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources to customers, including problems caused by constraints on the transmission system. First, there are generation pockets where the total potential output from renewable energy generation exceeds the capacity of the transmission system to export that energy. Second, there are load pockets where there is insufficient transmission capacity to import the renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources that are available. Both types of constraints should be promptly fixed so that all available renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources can be delivered to customers.
(4) Reducing the use of nonpreferred resources in disadvantaged communities has been a priority for those communities, and they would benefit from increased access to electricity from new renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources delivered to serve in-city loads.
(5) New transmission facilities have many steps that must be accomplished before they are online and delivering electricity. Major new transmission lines can take more than a decade from initial planning to operation.
(6) New transmission facilities should be planned proactively to support delivery to load centers from expected locations for future renewable energy resource and zero-carbon resource development, where those locations are identified in the integrated resource planning process pursuant to Sections 454.52 and 9621 or as part of longer range planning processes pursuant to Section 454.53.
(7) New transmission facilities should be designed to minimize the risk of transmission-triggered wildfires.
(8) New transmission facilities should be designed to facilitate renewable energy transmission across California to better manage the variability of the electrical supply.
(9) The Independent System Operator has issued a 20-Year Transmission Outlook that identifies substantial additional transmission projects needed to integrate renewable energy resources and storage for retail suppliers within the Independent System Operator balancing authority. Given the scale of this challenge, there is an urgent need to prioritize and accelerate the substantial effort needed to build transmission projects with long development times.
(c) Recognizing that the Independent System Operator’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved tariff requires the Independent System Operator to plan and approve new transmission facilities needed to achieve the state’s goals, it is the intent of the Legislature that the Independent System Operator shall take notice of the state policies expressed in this section.
(d) (1) In support of the state’s policy to supply increasing amounts of electricity from renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources pursuant to Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 and Section 454.53, beginning as soon as possible and not later than March 31, 2024, the commission, in consultation with the Energy Commission, shall provide transmission-focused guidance to the Independent System Operator about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. The guidance shall include the allocation of those resources by region based on technical feasibility and commercial interest in each region to allow the Independent System Operator to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers.
(2) The commission and Energy Commission shall identify cost-effective opportunities to enable planned or operating energy-only resources to obtain deliverability through transmission capacity expansions and shall request the Independent System Operator to reserve associated deliverability for geothermal and wind in the Independent System Operator’s balancing authority area for this purpose.
(3) For purposes of the Independent System Operator’s scoring in its interconnection process, the commission shall designate energy-only resources as long lead-time resources, using criteria consistent with its designation of long lead-time deliverable resources, as applicable.
(e) In providing the guidance described in subdivision (d), the commission and the Energy Commission shall provide projections each year, including from the integrated energy policy report prepared pursuant to Section 25302 of the Public Resources Code and the load-serving entities’ integrated resource plans prepared pursuant to Section 454.52, to support planning and approvals by the Independent System Operator in its annual transmission planning process, including by doing all of the following:
(1) Providing projections of resource portfolios and electricity demand by region for at least 15 years into the future to ensure adequate lead time for the Independent System Operator to analyze and approve transmission development, and for the permitting and construction of the approved facilities, to meet the projections.
(2) Providing load growth projections, including projected growth from building and transportation electrification, that are consistent with achieving the economywide greenhouse gas emissions reductions required pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code).
(3) Providing projections of new renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources consistent with the build rates necessary to achieve the targets established in Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 and Section 454.53.
(4) (A) Providing resource projections that, combined with transmission capacity expansions, are expected to substantially reduce, no later than 2035, the need to rely on nonpreferred resources in local capacity areas.
(B) The resource projections in subparagraph (A) shall include consideration of cost-effective and feasible alternatives to transmission capacity expansions, including the use of energy storage resources, renewable energy resources, or zero-carbon resources that are located within the local capacity areas.
(5) Providing projections for offshore wind generation as identified by the SB 100 Joint Agency Report of the commission, the Energy Commission, and the State Air Resources Board, and informed by the strategic plan developed pursuant to Section 25991 of the Public Resources Code, to allow the Independent System Operator to identify and approve transmission facilities needed from offshore wind resource areas that would be sufficient to make offshore wind resources fully deliverable to load centers.
(6) Providing projections for increases in imports of electricity into the state that reflect the expected development of renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources in other parts of the Western Interconnection for the purpose of delivering clean energy to California balancing authorities.
(f) On or before January 15, 2023, the commission shall request the Independent System Operator to do both of the following:
(1) Identify, based as much as possible on studies completed before January 1, 2023, by the Independent System Operator and projections provided before January 1, 2023, by the commission and the Energy Commission, the highest priority transmission facilities that are needed to allow for increased transmission capacity into local capacity areas to deliver renewable energy resources or zero-carbon resources that are expected to be developed by 2035 into those areas.
(2) Consider whether to approve transmission projects identified pursuant to paragraph (1) as part of its 2022–23 transmission planning process.
(g) It is the policy of the state that new transmission facilities be built on a timely basis and in anticipation of new electrical generation that will be built to meet the state’s renewable energy resource and zero-carbon resource targets, with interim targets for transmission capacity additions that demonstrate adequate progress toward meeting these long-term transmission needs. The commission shall request that the Independent System Operator implement this policy by approving transmission projects needed based on a longer planning period supported by the guidance provided pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e). The projects should be approved in time to be online when needed, considering permitting and construction lead times.
(h) It is the policy of the state that planning for new transmission facilities considers all of the following goals:
(1) Minimizing the risk of wildfire.
(2) Increasing systemwide reliability and cost efficiency, including through the sharing of diverse electrical generation resources within California and with other parts of the Western Interconnection.
(3) Eliminating transmission constraints that prevent electrical generation resources from delivering to the wider electrical grid and that prevent importing energy into load pockets.
(i) For purposes of this section, both of the following definitions apply:
(1) “Local capacity area” means a transmission constrained load pocket, as identified by the Independent System Operator, where local generation capacity is needed for reliability due to insufficient transmission capacity into the load pocket to meet electricity demand with electricity from outside of the load pocket.
(2) “Nonpreferred resources” means electrical generation resources that are not renewable energy resources or zero-carbon resources pursuant to Section 454.53.
SEC. 2.5.
Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
454.57.
(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Accelerating Renewable Energy Delivery Act.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The commission, the Energy Commission, and the State Air Resources Board have jointly estimated that the state’s installed electric electrical generation may need a threefold increase in capacity to meet state carbon-free electricity policy targets.
(2) Record-setting Record
setting renewable energy generation build rates are needed to meet the goals of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program and the Senate Bill 100 (Chapter 312 of the Statutes of 2018) target of supplying 100 percent of retail sales of electricity from renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. However, these build rates are not achievable without additional electrical transmission lines and facilities connecting new resources to consumers in the state’s load centers.
(3) In recent years, California has seen problems in delivering renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources to customers, including problems caused by constraints on the transmission system. First, there are generation pockets where the total potential output from renewable energy generation exceeds the capacity of the transmission system to export that energy. Second, there are load pockets where there is insufficient transmission capacity to import the renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources that are available. Both types of constraints should be promptly fixed so that all available renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources can be delivered to customers.
(4) Reducing the use of nonpreferred resources in disadvantaged communities has been a priority for those communities, and they would benefit from increased access to electricity from new renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources delivered to serve in-city loads.
(5) New transmission facilities have many steps that must be accomplished before they are online and delivering electricity. Major new transmission lines can take more than a decade from initial planning to operation.
(6) New transmission facilities should be planned proactively
to support delivery to
load centers from expected locations for of future renewable energy resource and zero-carbon resource development, resources to load centers, where those resource locations are identified in the integrated resource planning process pursuant to Sections 454.52 and 9621 or as part of longer range planning processes pursuant to Section 454.53.
(7) New transmission facilities should be designed to minimize the risk of transmission-triggered wildfires.
(8) New transmission facilities should be designed to facilitate renewable energy transmission across California to better manage the variability of the electrical supply.
(9) The Independent System Operator has issued a 20-Year Transmission Outlook that identifies substantial additional transmission projects needed to integrate renewable energy resources and storage for retail suppliers within the Independent System Operator balancing authority. Given the scale of this challenge, there is an urgent need to prioritize and accelerate the substantial effort needed to build transmission projects with long development times.
times, while ensuring that associated costs are just and reasonable for ratepayers.
(c) Recognizing that the Independent System Operator’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved tariff requires the Independent System Operator to plan and approve new transmission facilities needed to achieve the state’s goals, it is the intent of the Legislature that the Independent System Operator shall take notice of the state policies expressed in this section.
(d) (1) In support of the state’s policy to supply increasing amounts of electricity from renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources pursuant to Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11)
of Chapter 2.3 and Section 454.53, beginning as soon as possible and not later than March 31, 2024,
454.53, the commission, in consultation with the Energy Commission, shall provide transmission-focused guidance to the Independent System Operator about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. The guidance shall include the allocation of those resources by region based on technical feasibility and commercial interest in each region to allow the Independent System Operator to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers. resources that takes into account uncertainty and optionality, is risk prudent, and supports compliance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders, including, but not limited to, FERC Order 1920, as later clarified by FERC Order 1920-A and FERC Order
1920-B, as applicable.
(2) In developing the guidance pursuant to paragraph (1) the commission shall do all of the following:
(A) Provide an allocation of the renewable energy and zero-carbon resources by region based on consideration of technical feasibility and commercial interest in each region to allow the Independent System Operator to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers.
(B) Use methods that enable decisionmaking under uncertainty, such as robust optimization or stochastic optimization, to develop candidate near-term planning decisions.
(C) Evaluate candidate planning decisions via a stress testing process through which the cost and reliability of the electrical system and the implications for future planning decisions and flexibility to support the resource portfolios are assessed, and, in a new or existing proceeding, examine the costs and risks of each candidate planning decision.
(D) (i) Submit at least three resource portfolios to the Independent System Operator that are reflective of risk-prudent, near-term planning decisions and collectively representative of the range of resource procurement trajectories that could be necessary to reliably serve load across a range of plausible futures informed by planning uncertainties, to support the Independent System Operator’s compliance with the requirements of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 1920, as later clarified by FERC Order 1920-A and FERC Order 1920-B, as applicable.
(ii) The commission shall provide the Independent System Operator with relevant load forecasts and resource availability assumptions for each resource portfolio submitted pursuant to clause (i).
(E) Request that the Independent System Operator approve transmission projects that align with this guidance and that the commission finds to be reasonable in supporting any of the resource portfolios submitted pursuant to subparagraph (D).
(F) Ensure that resource portfolios submitted to the Independent System Operator support resources identified as under contract in integrated resource plans submitted pursuant to Section 454.52 and the interconnection of resources of strategic importance to load-serving entities.
(G) Include in this guidance any supplemental or accelerated transmission needs, beyond the requirements of an individual resource portfolio.
(H) Implement this guidance in a manner that ensures rates remain just and reasonable, in accordance with Section 451.
(3) The commission and Energy Commission shall identify cost-effective opportunities to enable planned or operating energy-only resources to obtain deliverability through transmission capacity expansions and shall request the Independent System Operator to reserve associated deliverability for geothermal and wind in the Independent System Operator’s balancing authority area for this purpose.
(4) For purposes of the Independent System Operator’s scoring in its interconnection process, the commission shall designate energy-only resources as long lead-time resources, using criteria consistent with its designation of long lead-time deliverable resources, as applicable.
(e) In providing the guidance described in subdivision (d), the commission and the Energy Commission shall provide projections each year,
projections, including from the integrated energy policy report prepared pursuant to Section 25302 of the Public Resources Code and the load-serving entities’ integrated resource plans prepared pursuant to Section 454.52, to support planning and approvals by the Independent System Operator in its annual transmission planning process, including by doing all of the following:
(1) Providing projections of resource portfolios and electricity demand by region for at least 15 20 years into the future to ensure adequate lead time for the Independent System Operator to analyze and approve transmission development, and for the permitting
and construction of the approved facilities, to meet the projections.
(2) Providing load growth projections, including projected growth from building and transportation electrification, that are consistent with achieving the economywide greenhouse gas emissions reductions required pursuant to Division the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code. Code).
(3) Providing projections of new renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources consistent with the build rates necessary to achieve the targets established in Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 and Section 454.53.
(4) (A) Providing resource projections that, combined with transmission capacity expansions, are expected to substantially reduce, no later than 2035, the need to rely on nonpreferred resources in local capacity areas.
(B) The resource projections in subparagraph (A) shall include consideration of cost-effective and feasible alternatives to transmission capacity expansions, including the use of energy storage resources, renewable energy resources, or zero-carbon resources that are located within the local capacity areas.
(5) Providing projections for offshore wind generation as identified by the SB 100 Joint Agency Report of the commission, the Energy Commission, and the State Air Resources Board, and informed by the strategic plan developed pursuant to Section 25991 of the Public Resources Code, to allow the Independent System Operator to identify and approve transmission facilities needed from offshore wind resource areas that would be sufficient to make offshore wind resources fully deliverable to load centers.
(6) Providing projections for increases in imports of electricity into the state that reflect the expected development of renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources in other parts of the Western Interconnection for the purpose of delivering clean energy to California balancing authorities.
(f) On or before January 15, 2023, the commission shall request the Independent System Operator to do both of the following:
(1) Identify, based as much as possible on studies completed before January 1, 2023, by the Independent System Operator and projections provided before January 1, 2023, by the commission and the Energy Commission, the highest priority transmission facilities that are needed to allow for increased transmission capacity into local capacity areas to deliver renewable energy resources or zero-carbon resources that are expected to be developed by 2035 into those areas.
(2) Consider whether to approve transmission projects identified pursuant to paragraph (1) as part of its 2022–23 transmission planning process.
(g) It is the policy of the state that new transmission facilities be built on a timely basis and in anticipation of new electrical generation that will be built to meet the state’s renewable energy resource and zero-carbon resource targets, with interim targets for transmission capacity additions that demonstrate adequate progress toward meeting these long-term transmission needs. The commission shall request that the Independent System Operator implement this policy by approving transmission projects needed based on a longer planning period supported by the guidance provided pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e). The projects should be approved in time to be online when needed, considering permitting and construction lead times.
(h) It is the policy of the state that planning for new transmission facilities is conducted in a cost-effective and risk-prudent manner and considers all of the following goals:
(1) Minimizing the risk of wildfire.
(2) Increasing systemwide reliability and cost efficiency, including through the sharing of diverse electrical generation resources within California and with other parts of the Western Interconnection.
(3) Supporting the achievement of the state’s energy, climate change, and air quality goals, including, but not limited to, the goals established pursuant to Section 454.53.
(4) Eliminating transmission constraints that prevent electrical generation resources from delivering to the wider electrical grid and that prevent importing energy into load pockets.
(5) Reducing resource interconnection timelines.
(i) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions apply:
(1) “Load-serving entity” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 380.
(2) “Local capacity area” means a transmission constrained load pocket, as identified by the Independent System Operator, where local generation capacity is needed for reliability due to insufficient transmission capacity into the load pocket to meet electricity demand with electricity from outside of the load pocket.
(3) “Near-term planning decisions” means resource and transmission planning decisions that must be made in the current planning cycle without certainty as to the resolution of planning uncertainties, including, but not limited to, procurement of long lead-time resources, resources that need to be contracted within the succeeding five years, and planning for new transmission facilities with long lead times.
(4) “Nonpreferred resources” means electrical generation resources that are not renewable energy resources or zero-carbon resources pursuant to Section 454.53.
(5) “Planning uncertainties” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 454.51.
(6) “Risk prudent” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 454.51.
SEC. 3.
Section 1.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by both this bill and Assembly Bill 2476. That section of this bill shall only become operative if (1) both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2027, (2) each bill amends Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code, and (3) this bill is enacted after Assembly Bill 2476, in which case Section 1 of this bill shall not become operative.
SEC. 4.
Section 2.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by both this bill and Assembly Bill 2111. That section of this bill shall only become operative if (1) both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2027, (2) each bill amends Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code, and (3) this bill is enacted after Assembly Bill 2111, in which case Section 2 of this bill shall not become operative.