California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 19 signed into law a package of bills that, among other things, enables the Pathways Initiative for a voluntary, west-wide regional electricity market.
The legislation was announced by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on Sept. 10 and included other energy-related measures.
AB 825, authored by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, Senator Josh Becker, and Speaker Robert Rivas, “preserves California’s control over critical policy functions — including transmission planning and procurement — while unlocking the benefits of broader regional cooperation: greater grid reliability, reduced blackout risk, more affordable clean power, and lower emissions,” a news release from Becker’s office said.
Public power entities in California hailed the State Legislature’s passage of AB 825 prior to Newsom’s action.
The Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) noted that it has been a leading voice in the effort to establish a successful framework for a regional electricity market and urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign this bill into law.
“This transition toward a regional energy market with neighboring states is a necessary and common-sense solution that will bring down electricity costs, encourage further development of renewables in California, and improve reliability,” said Northern California Power Agency General Manager Randy Howard, who served on the Pathways Launch Committee. “This legislation moves us in the right direction—helping to keep the lights on and bring down electricity costs for millions of Californians.”
“California’s publicly owned electric utilities strive to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy to our customers,” said Danielle Blacet-Hyden, Executive Director of the California Municipal Utilities Association.
“One of the best and proven ways to effectively lower the cost of electricity and increase reliability is to create a viable Western regional energy market. California has the opportunity this year to take a major step toward achieving this by passing AB 825 (Petrie-Norris). Public utilities strongly support efforts that will save our customers money and provide additional reliability for the grid. AB 825 will do both of those things," she said.
Additional details on the bills that Newsom signed into law are included on the governor’s website.
