{"id":17646,"date":"2018-04-16T15:59:44","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T19:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=17646"},"modified":"2018-12-04T14:38:07","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T19:38:07","slug":"california-bill-aimed-at-wildfires-effectively-bans-clean-energy-that-may-help-prevent-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2018\/04\/16\/california-bill-aimed-at-wildfires-effectively-bans-clean-energy-that-may-help-prevent-them\/","title":{"rendered":"California bill aimed at wildfires effectively bans clean energy that may help prevent them"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>California experienced one of the worst wildfire seasons<\/a> in its history last year. In response to widespread devastation, the state\u2019s legislature introduced a bill last week, SB 1088, requiring regulators to establish fire risk reduction and mitigation standards for utilities. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) strongly supports compensating Californians harmed by the fires and taking steps to prevent future fires. However, as currently written, the bill includes unnecessary provisions that would severely limit Californians’ access to distributed energy resources. Ironically, these are the tools that can help the state more quickly and cheaply fight climate change \u2013 a large contributor to its fire risk.<\/p>\n

The bill\u2019s prohibition of customer and third party-owned distributed resources is broad enough to threaten a wide variety of clean energy resources, without giving them a chance to grow. Distributed resources include battery storage, including electric vehicles, which will allow Californians to capture the power of the sun during the day and use it in the evening. Energy efficiency and demand response<\/a> are distributed resources that help reduce the state\u2019s reliance on transmission lines and fossil fuel power plants, while keeping people\u2019s bills low. Distributed solar plays a vital role in the state\u2019s electric grid and is helping to improve local air quality and cut global warming pollution.<\/p>\n

Distributed resources are innovative technologies that California needs in order to keep nurturing local economies in a way that preserves community authority and control.\u00a0 At the same time, distributed resources can help us avoid the most devastating effects of climate change. This is why EDF, along with Environment California and California League of Conservation Voters, sent a letter of opposition<\/a> to the bill\u2019s author expressing our concerns.<\/p>\n

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How does the bill restrict clean, distributed energy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Specific sections currently included in the bill would cripple the distributed energy resources industry\u2019s ability to provide services and the state\u2019s ability to meet its climate change objectives while providing electricity in safe, low-cost ways. California lawmakers should change the following sections of the bill to ensure clean energy solutions continue to thrive:<\/p>\n