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Roseville electric department outlines state and federal legislative priorities including battery storage, data centers and bond rules
Summary
Electric department staff briefed the Law and Regulatory Committee on bills covering data center reporting, battery storage siting limits, small modular nuclear reactors, and supported federal measures to stabilize transformer supply chains and municipal refinancing tools.
An electric department representative updated the Law and Regulatory Committee March 20 on state bills affecting electric utilities and federal measures the city supports.
At the state level, staff said AB 222 would require data center operators to report annual energy consumption to the California Energy Commission to improve transparency of AI-related energy use. On battery storage, staff said they hold an "oppose unless amended" position on AB 303, which would restrict siting of battery energy storage systems at or above 200 megawatt-hours and would require the California Energy Commission to deny pending applications as an urgency statute; staff said the city is concerned the bill would remove an important resource for meeting the state’s renewable targets.
The electric department is watching AB 305, which would exempt small modular reactors from California’s prohibition on certifying new nuclear plants and would direct the California Public Utilities Commission to develop procurement plans by January 2028. Staff described that as a statewide discussion rather than a near-term local issue.
Federally, electric staff said Roseville supports Senate bill 448 (a manufacturing incentive for distribution transformers under the advanced production tax credit) and House bill HR 1255 to reinstate tax-exempt advance refunding bonds, a financing tool staff said could produce interest-rate savings for local jurisdictions. The department also signed on to a coalition urging adequate LIHEAP funding for fiscal year 2026 and cosponsored an American Public Power Association resolution urging increased federal appropriations for wildfire mitigation and research.
The committee discussed staffing concerns at the Western Area Power Administration and asked whether federal funding is supporting local electric vehicle projects; staff said they would follow up with additional details.
