by Kurt Johnson, The Climate Center (read full article on our website here)
As climate-related disruptions grow more frequent and severe, we urgently need effective local strategies to achieve decarbonization, resilience, social equity and security. The common basis for all these goals is to create local electric systems — carbon-free, safe, resilient and accessible to all — in every community throughout California. This requires a new state-led, state-funded program to empower all local governments statewide to plan and implement such systems.
Advanced Community Energy (ACE) is an initiative to establish, through legislation, a program to provide funding, technical expertise, best practices and local capacity building for all cities and counties to plan and implement local ACE systems, starting with community microgrids. Under the state program, ACE planning will involve collaboration between local government agencies, local residents and stakeholders, especially vulnerable households and disadvantaged neighborhoods, electric distribution utilities, and clean energy developers and technology companies….
Community Microgrid Schematic
….The ACE initiative is proposing new legislation for the 2020 legislative session to include the following elements:
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- Create a state-managed and state-funded program of support for local governments to develop and implement local ACE plans.
- Increase state funding to support critical-facility microgrid projects, starting with high fire risk areas and eventually covering all of California.
- Direct the CPUC to develop regulatory rules for its jurisdictional electric distribution utilities to collaborate with cities and counties in their service areas on ACE planning.
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In the coming months The Climate Center will be developing additional details of the ACE initiative in collaboration with California stakeholders interested in pursuing the ideas described above. If you would like to discuss this initiative with members of the ACE team please contact Kurt Johnson (kurt @ theclimatecenter .org). If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive future updates, click here.
