AB 710: Electrical corporations: resiliency planning: microgrid projects.

Official summary

Legislative Counsel’s Digest (official, as of the latest version). Written by nonpartisan legislative staff; reproduced verbatim.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the Independent System Operator, to take specified actions to facilitate the commercialization of microgrids for distribution customers of large electrical corporations, including developing microgrid service standards necessary to meet state and local permitting requirements and developing methods to reduce barriers for microgrid deployment without shifting costs between ratepayers.

This bill would require a large electrical corporation, upon request, to collaborate with local governments, tribal governments, or community choice aggregators within its service area to support resiliency planning, as provided. The bill would require large electrical corporations to provide local governments, tribal governments, and community choice aggregators with access to data, including electrical distribution equipment data, transmission and distribution circuit data, grid hardening plans, and other information as directed by the commission, to support resiliency planning by local governments and tribal governments to ensure local governments, tribal governments, and community choice aggregators are able to plan potential microgrid projects to support critical facilities. The bill would authorize the commission to require large electrical corporations to share this information in aggregated and anonymized form to protect customer privacy and electrical grid security.

Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.

Because the violation of a PUC action implementing the bill’s requirements would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 1

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

1. August 13, 2026In committee: Held under submission.
2. August 3, 2026In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.
3. June 29, 2026Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
4. June 29, 2026Withdrawn from committee.
5. June 26, 2026In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
6. June 25, 2026From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD.
7. June 24, 2026From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (June 24). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
8. June 15, 2026Re-referred to Coms. on E., U & C. and JUD.
9. June 12, 2026Re-referred to Com. on RLS.
10. June 12, 2026Withdrawn from committee.
11. June 11, 2026From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E., U & C.
12. June 2, 2026In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.