Californians have an expectation of safe, affordable, and reliability electricity. Unfortunately, reliability has suffered greatly over the last several years as utility-caused wildfires and utility bills have increased.
Providing a balanced portfolio of renewable, non-traditional, and traditional resources is needed to ensure that energy is safe, affordable, and reliable. Careful oversight over utilities, organizational responsiveness, and investment in system hardening and vegetation management will help improve grid safety.
Establishing a siting and permitting system for energy distribution infrastructure is important to rural counties. Such a system must facilitate the development and construction of necessary energy facilities, transmission lines, and pipelines. Local governments should be integral in the land use and planning processes for these types of facilities. Additionally, federal and state agencies implementing such a regulatory scheme must consider the impacted local governments’ perspectives, as well as acknowledge the special authority and responsibility counties maintain over land use issues and the impacts those facilities have on host communities over the long run.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulates privately owned electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and passenger transportation companies. The California Energy Commission (CEC) is the State’s primary energy policy and planning agency. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil, among its other responsibilities.
RCRC engages in legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts at both the state and federal level to represent the interests of member counties, including in proceedings on the following topics at the CPUC and the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety:
- Wildfire Mitigation Plans
- Energy Reliability (PSPS and EPSS Outages)
- Microgrids and Remote Grids
- Energy Affordability
- Biomass Energy Generation
- Biomethane Procurement