Bill author: Assembly Member Sam Blakeslee (R-33)

SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Energy Commission to study and submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor on the impacts that distributed energy generation has on the state's distribution and transmission grid. This study must evaluate the reliability of distribution and transmission networks with regard to: connecting distributed energy generation (DG) to the local networks and regional grid, grid reliability, the position of federal and state regulators, barriers affecting the connection to the state's grid, impacts of emerging technologies, and interconnection issues that may arise for the Independent System Operator and local distribution companies.

WHY IT MATTERS
California is transitioning from traditional large-scale powerplant operations, toward more of a widespread network of DG. Rapid increases in technology and the quest for innovation have developed alternative resources that can be used to self-generate one's electricity. In addition, some utilities are using DG to generate electricity for neighborhoods using fuel cell technology.

Most of the state programs limit the qualified projects to those that are less than one megawatt, in part because net-meter customer generation cannot be scheduled by the electric utility. The utility must take the power when it is produced, whether it needs it at that moment or not. The electric utility can easily adapt to small amounts of unscheduled electricity coming onto the grid, but larger amounts of electricity might be a problem.

THE GOALS OF AB 578 INCLUDE:
• Preparing the state of California for the inconsistent surges of electricity being dispatched to the distribution or transmission grid that are due to proliferation of DG options.

• Preparing electric utilities to meet reliability demands for scheduling large amount of electricity coming onto the grid.