Marine Corps Air Station MIramar
California governor Jerry Brown has just signed SB 1339 into law. This new piece of microgrid legislation is intended to facilitate the commercialization of microgrids by streamlining the process for integrating microgrids into the main electrical grid and establishing a value for the technology.
Under the new law the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will have until 2020 to establish regulations that will:
- Establish rates and tariffs that will support microgrids. These tariffs could compensate utilities for providing backup power to a microgrid, as well as compensating owner for the services that microgrids provide.
- Develop interconnection standards and timelines for microgrids (local publicly-owned utilities/munis would have to develop their own interconnection standards).
Given California’s leadership position in distributed energy and renewable energy technology, the bill is likely to serve as a blueprint for other states wishing to improve the regulatory environment for microgrids.
Learn more about California’s new microgrid bill.