The commission shall, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, develop contingency plans to deal with possible shortages of electrical energy or fuel supplies to protect public health, safety, and welfare.
Chapter 8Energy Shortage Contingency Planning
Section § 25700
This law requires the commission to create backup plans to handle potential shortages of electricity or fuel. The aim is to ensure public health, safety, and welfare are protected during such shortages.
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Section § 25701
This law requires all electric and gas utilities, as well as fuel wholesalers or manufacturers in California, to submit an emergency plan to the commission within six months. The plans should outline how to prioritize electricity and fuel distribution during major shortages or interruptions.
The commission encourages utilities to collaborate and submit joint plans, rather than individual ones, if possible. Additionally, the commission will gather existing contingency plans from government agencies to better manage unexpected energy shortages.
(a)CA Public Resources Code § 25701(a) Within six months after the effective date of this division, each electric utility, gas utility, and fuel wholesaler or manufacturer in the state shall prepare and submit to the commission a proposed emergency load curtailment plan or emergency energy supply distribution plan setting forth proposals for identifying priority loads or users in the event of a sudden and serious shortage of fuels or interruption in the generation of electricity.
(b)CA Public Resources Code § 25701(b) The commission shall encourage electric utilities to cooperate in joint preparation of an emergency load curtailment plan or emergency energy distribution plan. If such a cooperative plan is developed between two or more electric
utilities, such utilities may submit such joint plans to the commission in place of individual plans required by subdivision (a) of this section.
(c)CA Public Resources Code § 25701(c) The commission shall collect from all relevant governmental agencies, including, but not limited to, the Public Utilities Commission and the Office of Emergency Services, any existing contingency plans for dealing with sudden energy shortages or information related thereto.
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Section § 25702
This law requires the commission to hold public hearings and review energy emergency plans submitted by utilities and energy companies. Within a year, they must create a plan for the Governor and Legislature to manage energy shortages. These plans should prioritize essential services, public safety, and the economy, while reducing unnecessary energy use. Plans must also detail state and local government roles during shortages and differentiate energy curtailment based on users' capacity to handle it.
The commission shall, after one or more public hearings, review the emergency load curtailment program plans or emergency energy supply distribution plans submitted pursuant to Section 25701, and, within one year after the effective date of this division, the commission shall approve and recommend to the Governor and the Legislature plans for emergency load curtailment and energy supply distribution in the event of a sudden energy shortage. Such plans shall be based upon the plans presented by the electric utilities, gas utilities, and fuel wholesalers or manufacturers, information provided by other governmental agencies, independent analysis and study by the commission and information provided at the hearing or hearings. Such plans shall provide for the provision of essential services, the protection of public health, safety, and welfare, and the maintenance of a sound basic state economy. Provision shall be made in such plans to eliminate wasteful, uneconomic, and unnecessary uses of energy in times of shortages and to differentiate curtailment of energy consumption by users on the basis of ability to accommodate such curtailments. Such plans shall also specify the authority of and recommend the appropriate actions of state and local governmental agencies in dealing with energy shortages.
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Section § 25703
This section outlines that the commission must review and update their recommended plans within four months after certifying a new facility. Additionally, they must conduct public hearings and review these plans at least every five years to account for any new facility capacity.
Within four months after the date of certification of any new facility, the commission shall review and revise the recommended plans based on additional new capacity attributed to any such facility. The commission shall, after one or more public hearings, review the plans at least every five years from the approval of the initial plan as specified in Section 25702.
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Section § 25704
This law directs the commission to study potential energy shortages, such as electricity or natural gas. If there's a risk of such shortages, the commission should recommend actions to the Governor and Legislature. These actions could include energy conservation, developing new energy sources, granting specific powers to government agencies to act during an emergency, and organizing responsibilities for dealing with such emergencies.
The commission shall carry out studies to determine if potential serious shortages of electrical, natural gas, or other sources of energy are likely to occur and shall make recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature concerning administrative and legislative actions required to avert possible energy supply emergencies or serious fuel shortages, including, but not limited to, energy conservation and energy development measures, to grant authority to specific governmental agencies or officers to take actions in the event of a sudden energy shortage, and to clarify and coordinate existing responsibilities for energy emergency actions.
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Section § 25704.5
This law recognizes the impact of climate change, such as more frequent extreme heat events, which affects energy demand and supply. It stresses the need to plan for all-day energy reliability, especially with the growing use of renewable energy resources. The law requires, by the end of 2023, the commission to create recommendations, with public and industry input, on adequate energy planning margins for local publicly owned utilities. These recommendations will ensure reliable energy supply while considering climate change impacts, costs, feasibility, and the availability of clean energy. The guidelines will also align with existing public utility codes and will be regularly updated.
(a)CA Public Resources Code § 25704.5(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)CA Public Resources Code § 25704.5(a)(1) Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events and increasing levels of variable renewable energy resources necessitate planning for the net load, which is load minus variable renewables, peak in addition to peak load.
(2)CA Public Resources Code § 25704.5(a)(2) There is a need to reassess how applicable authorities plan to have adequate resources to ensure reliability in all hours of the day. While certain capacity product requirements have been standardized through the Independent System Operator, such as local and flexible capacity obligations, and there have been discussions of increased or even minimum planning
reserves margins, there is a need to consider modern metrics to assess the overall reliability performance of the Independent System Operator balancing authority area.
(b)CA Public Resources Code § 25704.5(b) On or before December 31, 2023, the commission shall, as part of a transparent public process that includes input from industry stakeholders, and in direct collaboration with representatives of local publicly owned electric utilities and the Independent System Operator, develop recommendations about approaches to determine an appropriate minimum planning reserve margin for local publicly owned electric utilities within the Independent System Operator balancing authority area sufficient to ensure each local publicly owned electric utility is adequately accounting for its contribution to reliability in the Independent System Operator balancing authority area. The approaches shall take into consideration climate change, extreme weather events, cost effectiveness, and
feasibility, and may vary by utility type. The recommendations shall include an implementation timeline taking into account potential impacts on resource needs and availability of clean energy resources. These recommendations shall be used by local publicly owned electric utilities in conformance with subdivision (b) of Section 9620 of the Public Utilities Code. The commission shall from time to time revise, as appropriate and in accordance with the process set forth in this subdivision, the planning reserve margin recommendations to ensure that each local publicly owned electric utility is adequately accounting for its contribution to reliability.
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Section § 25705
This law says that if it's decided that regular measures won't fix an energy supply crisis, and the Governor or Legislature says it's a threat to public health and safety, new energy facilities can be built quickly. The goal is to protect the public's needs. After 60 days of starting to build these facilities, the commission has to report on how serious the situation is and suggest other ways to handle the energy crisis without relying solely on new facilities.
If the commission determines that all reasonable conservation, allocation, and service restriction measures may not alleviate an energy supply emergency, and upon a declaration by the Governor or by an act of the Legislature that a threat to public health, safety, and welfare exists and requires immediate action, the commission shall authorize the construction and use of generating facilities under such terms and conditions as specified by the commission to protect the public interest.
Within 60 days after the authorization of construction and use of such generating facilities, the commission shall issue a report detailing the full nature, extent, and estimated duration of the emergency situation and making recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature for further energy conservation and energy supply measures to alleviate the emergency situation as alternatives to use of such generating facilities.
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