California § 25791 - The Distributed Electricity Backup Assets Program is hereby created. The commissi

§ 25791. The Distributed Electricity Backup Assets Program is hereby created. The commissi

(a) The Distributed Electricity Backup Assets Program is hereby created. The commission shall implement and administer the program to incentivize the construction of cleaner and more efficient distributed energy assets that would serve as on-call emergency supply or load reduction for the state’s electrical grid during extreme events. (b) In implementing and administering the program, the commission, in coordination with the state board, shall allocate moneys for either of the following: (1) Efficiency upgrades, maintenance, and capacity additions to existing power generators, consistent with subdivision (e). (2) Deployment of new zero- or low-emission technologies, including, but not limited to, fuel cells or energy storage, at existing or new facilities. (c) The commission shall develop guidelines, in consultation with the state board, to implement the program. The guidelines shall include a loading order that aims to achieve electricity reliability and prioritizes feasible, cost-effective demand response and efficiency resources, then feasible, cost-effective renewable and zero-emission resources, and then feasible, cost-effective conventional resources. The guidelines shall also consider the anticipated useful life of the resources in relation to the state’s climate and air quality requirements. (d) The state board, in consultation with air pollution control districts and air quality management districts, as appropriate, shall identify the cleanest available technologies and equipment that would qualify for the incentives for backup generators under the guidelines, inclusive of the emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria air pollutants, and toxic emissions associated with obtaining and using feedstock fuels. (e) The commission, in consultation with the state board, may fund new efficiency upgrades, maintenance, and incremental capacity additions to existing power generators. As a condition of the receipt of funds for this purpose, as applicable, generator operators shall comply with regulations adopted pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with Section 38530) of, and Part 5 (commencing with Section 38570) of, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code), including, but not limited to, the mandatory reporting of emissions of greenhouse gasses and market-based compliance mechanism. (f) All funding recipients under the program shall participate as an on-call emergency resource for the state during extreme events.