Bill Text: CA SB913 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Resource adequacy: aggregated distributed energy resources.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7)
Status: (Engrossed) 2026-06-29 - Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [SB913 Detail]
Download: California-2025-SB913-Amended.html
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Amended
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June 29, 2026 |
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June 15, 2026 |
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May 14, 2026 |
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April 16, 2026 |
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April 13, 2026 |
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March 11, 2026 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 913
| Introduced by Senator Becker (Coauthors: Senators Blakespear, Cortese, and Stern) |
January 27, 2026 |
An act to add Section 380.1 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 913, as amended, Becker.
Resource adequacy: aggregated distributed capacity energy resources.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the Independent System Operator, to establish resource adequacy requirements for all electrical corporations, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators. Existing law requires that the resource adequacy program achieve specified objectives, including that it establish new or maintain existing demand response products and tariffs, as specified.
This bill would require the PUC, in coordination with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the Independent System Operator, on or before June 30, 2027, to enhance existing market-integrated pathways for aggregated distributed capacity
energy resources, as defined, to qualify as resource adequacy capacity, as specified. The bill would require the commission to establish conditions for the use of aggregated distributed capacity energy resources while ensuring net energy metering customers and net billing tariff customers do not receive duplicate compensation, as provided. The bill would require the PUC to allow electrical corporations, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators to include aggregated distributed capacity energy resources in resource adequacy filings and PUC-ordered procurement, as specified. The
bill would require the PUC, on or before June 30, 2027, to develop recommendations for changes to the Independent System Operator’s proxy demand resource and the distributed energy resource aggregation participation models to be consistent with the PUC’s requirements for aggregated distributed capacity energy resources pursuant to these provisions, and to communicate the recommendations to the Independent System Operator for consideration in a new or existing initiative.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Because the provisions of this bill
would be part of the act and a violation of a PUC action implementing the bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) California faces increasing peak and net peak electricity demand due to continued growth and extreme temperatures during summer and winter months. temperatures.
(2) Distributed energy resources can provide reliable, cost-effective dispatchable capacity that reduces the need for new fossil-fueled generation.
(3) When distributed energy resources are dispatched instead of fossil-fueled generation, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of the state’s climate targets and it reduces air pollution in the communities adjacent to the generation facilities that would otherwise have been dispatched.
(4)During recent summer reliability events, distributed energy resources delivered verifiable performance to support electrical grid stability. However, these resources’ ability to provide capacity is limited by current market and regulatory rules and, therefore, they may not be receiving the full resource adequacy capacity value that they could provide.
(5)Unfortunately, the
(4) The amount of demand response participating in resource adequacy has declined in recent years even though there are many more distributed energy resources today that could be available to support the electrical grid.
(6)
(5) The Independent System Operator is actively pursuing reforms through its demand and distributed energy market integration initiative to improve participation models for distributed energy resources, including the proxy demand resource and the distributed energy resource participation models.
(7)
(6) Coordination among the Public Utilities Commission, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, and the Independent System Operator is necessary to establish a durable, transparent, and timely pathway for more distributed energy resources to qualify for resource
adequacy.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to address barriers that have unnecessarily limited the ability for distributed energy resources
to qualify for resource adequacy capacity so that distributed energy resources can more easily be used, where cost effective, to meet electrical grid reliability standards while lowering costs for ratepayers, supporting decarbonization goals, and reducing air pollution.
SEC. 2.
Section 380.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:380.1.
(a) On or before June 30, 2027, the commission, in coordination with the Energy Commission and the Independent System Operator, shall enhance existing market-integrated pathways for aggregated distributed(1) Aggregated distributed capacity
energy resources are able to qualify for local, system, or flexible resource adequacy capacity within any qualifying capacity or successor methodology adopted by the commission. commission, if the aggregated distributed energy resource meets all qualifying criteria.
(2) Aggregated distributed capacity energy resources are eligible to receive resource adequacy credit for full
their qualifying capacity value, including energy exported past the utility meter to the extent authorized pursuant to subdivision (b).
(3) Reasonable To the extent the commission determines device-level telemetry may provide accurate measurement of net load impact delivered to the grid in response to a dispatch signal from the grid operator, development of reasonable and standardized requirements, which may include metering accuracy, data integrity, telemetry resolution and latency, settlement verification, interoperability across devices and aggregators, and fraud or tamper prevention, allow distributed resources within an aggregated distributed capacity
energy resource that meet those requirements to be settled using device telemetry without the need for a revenue-grade meter. telemetry.
(4) Qualifying capacity methodologies are consistent with the device-level measurement provisions of this section, credit both load reductions and net exports of energy during any the specific hour of the day,
day required for resource adequacy showings, fully integrate these resources into the current resource adequacy construct and counting conventions, and allow aggregated distributed capacity energy resources to combine different types of distributed resources and technologies.
(5) Multiple enrollment is authorized, allowing multiple devices to participate behind the same utility point of interconnection, including in separate programs, if there is no double counting or duplicate compensation for the same load
reduction or energy export.
(6) Consumer data privacy is protected consistent with state law and enrollment commission decisions.
(7) Enrollment processes follow industry best practices, including those adopted for the Demand Side Grid Support Program 2025 season pursuant to Section 25792 of the Public Resources Code, in order to
reduce the barriers to enrolling distributed resources as aggregated distributed capacity energy resources.
(7)
(8) To the extent feasible, all capacity determinations are technology neutral, based on measured performance, and weather normalized, allowing the broadest set of device types and technologies to be included within an aggregated distributed capacity
energy resource and putting the burden on the aggregated distributed capacity
energy resource provider to ensure that it can deliver, in total across all of its distributed resources, the promised demand reduction or electricity supply when called upon.
(8)
(9) Alignment with the Independent System Operator’s existing market participation models for aggregated distributed capacity energy resources, as modified pursuant to subdivision (e).
(b) The commission shall establish conditions under which customer-sited distributed resources may cause energy to be exported past the utility meter as part of an aggregated distributed capacity
energy resource with the goal of maximizing the availability of customer-sited distributed resources to provide benefits to the grid while ensuring that net energy metering customers and net billing tariff customers receiving service pursuant to Section 2827, 2827.1, or 2827.10 do not receive duplicate compensation through both the aggregated distributed capacity energy resource and the retail bill credits for energy exported in response to a dispatch through the aggregated distributed capacity energy resource.
(c) The commission shall allow load-serving entities to include aggregated distributed capacity energy resources in resource adequacy filings and commission-ordered procurement pursuant to Section 454.54, consistent with the loading order in the state’s energy action plan. plan, if the aggregated distributed energy resource meets the energy attribute requirements specified in the applicable procurement order or resource adequacy requirements.
(d) In adopting
rules for aggregated distributed capacity energy resources to qualify for new resource procurement or to participate in the resource adequacy program, the commission shall ensure both of the following:
(1) Resource procurement requirements provide reasonable flexibility to accommodate the differing characteristics of resource types, including aggregated distributed capacity energy resources, to broaden the set of resources that can compete to
meet the state’s procurement or resource adequacy needs at the lowest cost to ratepayers. ratepayers, except that an aggregated distributed energy resource shall not be eligible to participate unless it demonstrates it can deliver the specific energy attributes, including capacity, location, dispatchability, or other characteristics, required under the applicable procurement order or resource adequacy requirements.
(2) Procurement requirements do not prevent entities that are not load-serving entities from developing and managing aggregated distributed capacity
energy resources, including through limitations on enrollment authorization, and offering those resources for resource adequacy capacity or other procurement.
(e) On or before June 30, 2027, the commission shall develop recommendations for changes to the Independent System Operator’s proxy demand resource and the distributed energy resource aggregation participation models, including the must-offer obligation for each participation model, to be consistent with the commission’s requirements for aggregated distributed capacity energy resources pursuant to this
section, and shall
communicate the recommendations to the Independent System Operator for consideration in a new or existing initiative.
(f) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions apply:
(1) “Aggregated distributed capacity energy resource” means an aggregation of one or more than one distributed
resources resource that are is capable of supplying electricity to, or reducing electricity demand on, the electrical distribution system when called upon to do so. For purposes of this section, distributed resources shall not include those participating in a net metering tariff pursuant to Sections 2827 and 2827.10.
(2) “Distributed resources” has the same meaning as defined in Section 769.
(3) “Load-serving entity” has the same meaning as defined in Section 380.
