Could California’s major utilities control their rapidly rising electricity rates by using their power grids more efficiently? State lawmakers want to find out.
A set of bills introduced this year would order Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric to measure and improve how they’re utilizing the hundreds of thousands of miles of power lines that carry electricity to customers.
At issue is how those utilities handle peaks in electricity demand that happen only a handful of hours per year — typically by upgrading and expanding expensive grid infrastructure. Identifying exactly where on the grid that utilities have taken, or plan to take, this approach and where extra capacity could be freed up is key.
Armed with that knowledge, regulators could set metrics and create incentives for utilities to use technologies like advanced grid controls and distributed solar with batteries to smooth out those peaks — and thus, reduce one of the biggest drivers of soaring electricity costs.
Assembly Bill 1975, introduced by Assembly Member Nick Schultz, a Democrat, would require utilities to measure grid utilization and find ways to improve it over time.
