SACRAMENTO – Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, announced new legislation to ensure California plans for continuous electricity during wildfire-driven power outages without relying on fossil fuel-powered backup generation.
“Power shutoffs during our ever-increasing fire seasons are imposing enormous costs on California, prompting a rush to buy carbon-emitting backup generators to serve critical facilities,” said Sen. Dodd. “But ensuring continuous power should not come at the expense of our environment. With adequate planning, clean energy alternatives can power the grid, providing a more reliable and sustainable source of electricity for our state.”
Senate Bill 99, or the Community Energy Resilience Act of 2021, establishes a grant program administered in part by the California Energy Commission for interested local government to take part in planning for alternative energy such as solar power for critical facilities. It was introduced Monday.
The proposal builds on the fact that more than a million California businesses already have solar power and there is substantial contribution to the energy grid from individual electric vehicle users. As a condition of funding, local governments would submit their plans to a stakeholder review board, which would report annually to the Legislature.
Sen. Dodd first introduced the proposal last year as Senate Bill 1314 but further action was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Supporters included The Climate Center, Microgrid Resources Coalition, Center for Sustainable Energy, Clean Coalition, Vote Solar and California Solar and Storage Association.
Senator Bill Dodd represents California’s 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo, Sacramento, and Contra Costa counties. You can learn more about Senator Dodd at www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.
3 comments
Garbage “New Green Deal”. This is all a money making scheme and has no planned storage.
You politicians have Great ideas to solve NON problems. Our country is energy independent with fossil fuels. Why do you feel the need to control us? Your no different than Pope Faucci lying to us about Herd ammunition and masks.
The senator appears to be confused. The power outages are due to problems in electrical transmission and distribution systems – NOT by the source of the electrical power (i.e., fossil fuel vs. “green”).
Also, The another real danger is lack of forest management by our state. Many lives and structures were lost due to California’s mismanagement of our forests. If the state even added a fraction of fire fighting costs due to fires this year, it would have saved huge amounts of pollution, and lives. These politicians always point the finger at someone else due to their lack of leadership. Thin out forests and save lives along with damage to the air quality.
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