Clean Energy Alliance outlines state bills, battery-storage safety priorities

The Carlsbad City Council legislative subcommittee received an update from the Clean Energy Alliance on legislation the agency and its trade association are tracking, focusing on battery storage safety, market regionalization and bills that could affect CCA autonomy and affordability.

The update delivered by Greg Wade, executive director of the Clean Energy Alliance (CEA), said the agency is monitoring several bills proposed by state lawmakers and participating through the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA). “Some of the topics the key topics that have come up … affordability, then of course energy storage systems and their safety, CCA autonomy is always important,” Wade said.

Wade and agency staff described three priorities the CEA is tracking: 1) battery energy storage safety and incident reporting, 2) legislation that would create a broader Western electricity market, and 3) bills touching tax incentives, financing of transmission and net energy metering and billing changes. He described SB 283 as a safety-focused bill that would require “safety incident reporting, emergency management plans” and stronger coordination with local authorities, and said CalCCA’s board supports SB 540 — a regional markets and pathways initiative intended to expand participation in a Western electricity market governed by a new regional organization and by CAISO. He said a Brattle Group study estimates substantial savings statewide from expanded regional markets.

Wade told the subcommittee the agency opposes AB 303, which would effectively prohibit certain large battery storage projects, and that CalCCA has adopted “opposed unless amended” positions on AB 306 (decarbonization/green building standards) and related bills. He said CalCCA was reviewing multiple proposed bills intended to preserve CCA local authority and foster affordability, including AB 44, SB 57, SB 117 and SB 540, and that the CEA had not taken formal positions on many of them yet.

Council members asked CEA staff what specific amendments they were seeking on SB 283. Wade said the changes are primarily definitional and aimed at ensuring the safety provisions apply to investor‑owned utilities as well as CCAs and do not create language that could be read as a prohibition on energy storage. “There are some minor revisions … that deal with definitions of battery energy storage facilities and the emergency management plans,” Wade said.

CEA staff also discussed the recent battery fires in the region and statewide concerns since the Moss Landing incident. Wade described Moss Landing as an adaptive reuse of an older building and said that contributed to fire spread; he and staff said Senate proposals seek to close gaps left by prior general orders and to create clearer local coordination and inspection regimes.

Council members said they want continued engagement because the city may host storage projects in future and emphasized the desire for safety and clarity in state legislation. CEA staff said they and CalCCA will continue to work with authors and committees and bring updates back to the subcommittee.

The subcommittee received the report; no formal action was taken on the CEA presentation.

Ending: The CEA presentation closed with the subcommittee asking staff and the city’s lobbyists to keep Carlsbad informed as bills move through the Legislature.