Sen. Dodd Introduces Power System Reliability Bill

SACRAMENTO – Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, introduced legislation today to improve the reliability of California’s electricity grid, preventing rolling blackouts such as those that left hundreds of thousands of residents without power during past heatwaves.

“By reducing demand from the largest energy users during peak times, my bill would make the grid more reliable, ensuring Californians have continued access to the energy they need,” Sen. Dodd said. “We need to be proactive to prevent the risk of future blackouts. Outages that come from imbalanced supply and demand are completely unacceptable.”

Since the 1980s, industrial customers have contributed to grid reliability by curtailing manufacturing when capacity is scarce under an emergency system known as the Base Interruptible Program. During extreme heat last year and in 2020, the California Public Utilities Commission called on large businesses to voluntarily reduce energy consumption, preventing more widespread outages that would have left nearly a million customers in the dark. However, an improved program could have further reduced blackouts.

Sen. Dodd’s bill strengthens the commission’s mandate to call for energy use reductions and requires participation from the state’s three largest utilities. It is supported by the California Large Energy Consumers Association.

“Sen. Dodd is focusing on the often-neglected part of the equation: decreasing demand not adding new generators,” said Christian Lenci, chair of California Large Energy Consumers Association. “CLECA is proud to support Sen. Dodd in introducing this bill, and we pledge to work together to provide Californians with an electric grid they can rely upon.”

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Senator Bill Dodd represents the 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties. You can learn more about the district and Senator Dodd at www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.