Electricity and Climate-Ready Energy Policy
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Summary
• Keep the lights on in every neighborhood during heat, fires, storms, and cyber incidents.
• Protect families, small businesses, hospitals, water systems, and rural and tribal communities.
• Clear authority, public dashboards, measurable reliability and affordability targets.
Goals
• Guarantee 24/7 reliability through extreme conditions.
• Decarbonize without blackouts or bill shocks.
• Build local resilience so communities can island and recover fast.
Guiding principles
Reliability first, clean energy second, affordability always guaranteed. Balanced, just-right rules that protect safety and expand choice. Equity, transparency, and accountability across the system. Resilience that works in real disasters, not just on paper.
Plan and policy
I. Governance and Accountability
Create a smart coordination hub (CERA) with legislative oversight and sunset review to cut duplication, enforce reliability standards, and lead unified command during emergencies.
II. Grid Modernization and Hardening
Harden and modernize the grid: high-risk line upgrades, sensors and predictive maintenance, hardened substations and control centers, mobile power for critical sites.
III. Reliability and Firm Capacity Standards
Adopt a firm capacity standard by 2032: seasonal and hourly margins; verified long-duration storage, geothermal and other firm clean resources; no plant retirements without proven replacement.
IV. Clean Energy Deployment and Decarbonization
Scale clean energy the reliable way: solar, wind, geothermal plus long-duration storage and deliverability-based procurement, not nameplate promises.
V. Distributed Energy and Community Microgrids
Expand distributed resilience: utility, community, tribal, municipal, and private microgrids for hospitals, shelters, water, emergency hubs, and vulnerable neighborhoods.
VI. Efficiency and Demand as Infrastructure
Treat efficiency and demand response as infrastructure: automated demand response, strong standards, time-of-use with protections, pay only for verified performance.
VII. Affordability and Equity Protections
Affordability and equity guarantees: cap bills for low-income households at ≤ 6 percent of income, automatic credits during emergencies, community solar and virtual net metering for renters.
VIII. Water and Wildfire Resilience
Water and wildfire integration: backup power for water systems, energy-secure wildfire zones, vegetation management near critical assets.
IX. Unified Emergency Operations
Unified emergency command: pre-approved islanding for protected zones, no unilateral shutoffs for critical communities, joint energy-fire-water operations.
Safeguards
• Smart government, not bigger government: CERA has legislative oversight, public reporting, and sunset review.
• Consumer protection: affordability caps, transparent bills, and deliverability-based contracts.
• Technology neutrality: any resource that meets safety, reliability, and emissions goals is eligible.
• Pause and pivot: automatic review triggers if reliability, cost, or emissions metrics slip.
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What is “reliability first”?
Keep firm, dispatchable capacity and long-duration storage so power stays on through heat waves, fires, and storms.Does this pick winners?
No. It is technology-neutral. Resources must meet verified reliability, safety, cost, and emissions performance.Who runs microgrids?
Utilities, cities, tribes, community groups, and private operators can all own or co-own, with common interconnection and safety rules.Will this raise bills?
The plan sets affordability caps and requires deliverability and ROI. Efficiency and demand response lower system costs.Why a new authority?
To end finger-pointing and delays. CERA consolidates accountability under oversight and sunset review, with public dashboards.Can plants still retire?
Yes, only after verified replacement capacity is online so reliability is not compromised.How does this help during fires or earthquakes?
Pre-approved islanding, mobile power for critical sites, and unified command keep water, hospitals, and shelters powered while repairs happen.
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