Resiliency and Microgrids

Microgrids Legislation

SB 1339, a bill enacted in 2018, directs the California Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the California Energy Commission and California Independent System Operator, to undertake a number of activities to further develop policies related to microgrids. The legislation added Chapter 4.5, Sections 8370-8372 to California's Public Utilities Code. Read the full bill and statutory language here.

Microgrids Rulemaking

The California Public Utilities Commission voted to initiate a new rulemaking to consider how to implement the requirements of SB 1339 at its September 12, 2019 public meeting. The "Order Instituting Rulemaking" (OIR) that formally launched the new proceeding was then officially issued on September 19, 2019. Read it here. The OIR includes a preliminary description of the issues the Commission intends to address in the rulemaking.

Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma, the Assigned Commissioner for the rulemaking, released a Scoping Memo on December 20, 2019.  Read it here.

The commission voted to approve a decision for Track 1 of the proceeding on June 11, 2020. The decision adopted short term actions to accelerate microgrid deployment and related resiliency solutions. Read it here.

Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma, the Assigned Commissioner for the rulemaking, released a Scoping Memo for Track 2 on July 3, 2020. Read it here.

Administrative Law Judge Colin Rizzo issued a ruling on July 23, 2020 requesting comment on staff's proposal for facilitating the commercialization of microgrids pursuant to SB 1339.  Read it here.  (Staff proposal and concept paper attached).  

Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma and Administrative Law Judge Colin Rizzo issued a joint ruling on September 4, 2020 requesting comment related to utility deployment of temporary generation and alternatives to diesel fuel and technology for the purpose of providing power to customers at safe-to-energize substations during transmission outages.  Read it here (Proposal and August 25th Workshop Challenge Statement attached).

Resiliency and Microgrids Working Group

As part of the rulemaking, the CPUC is organizing a working group to facilitate thoughtful and informed discussions to continue to support the goal of resiliency and the commercialization of microgrids. Specifically, the Resiliency and Microgrids Working Group (RMWG) will further explore the issues identified in the proceeding thus far which may include but not limited to the standardized metrics for measuring resiliency and reliability values, CAISO wholesale market, critical facilities, and other topics. The topics may be subject to change and reprioritization as the discussions evolve over the course of the working group meetings. 

Read the draft Charter here.

For past and upcoming working group meetings, please refer to the Resiliency and Microgrid Events and Materials section here.

Track 2 Calendar of Activities

Below is the Track 2 schedule for the Microgrids Rulemaking. This schedule will be refined and adjusted over time.

Track 1 Calendar of Activities

Below is the Track 1 schedule for the Microgrids Rulemaking. A decision for Track 1 of the proceeding was adopted on June 11, 2020.

Contact Information

Forest Kaser, Supervisor
415-703-1445
forest.kaser@cpuc.ca.gov