UPLC PowerLine: CALIFORNIA SMART GRID BILL PASSED WITH AMENDMENTS

STATES: CALIFORNIA SMART GRID BILL PASSED WITH AMENDMENTS
April 17th, 2008 by kristy.weinshel

The California Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee passed an amended version of a Smart Grid bill (SB-1438), which now requires the PUC, the State Energy Commission and the ISO to develop a definition of "Smart Grid" by January 15, 2009. The definition must “achieve certain goals and to develop standards and protocols for the deployment of smart grid technologies and services that will improve overall efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of electrical system operations, planning, and maintenance.” Under the bill, utilities would be required to develop and submit by June 30, 2010 a Smart Grid deployment plan to the PUC for approval and recovery of "reasonable costs of deploying smart grid technologies and services from ratepayers." The bill would authorize Smart Grid technologies and services to be deployed in “an incremental manner"; and would require the PUC in consultation with the Energy Commission, the ISO, and the utilities, at each step of deployment, to "evaluate the impact of deployment on major initiatives and policies."