SACRAMENTO, September 30, 2026 — Today, Governor Newsom signed SB 913, the Clean Local Power Act, into law. Authored by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), this bill ensures that the millions of California homes and businesses that already have smart technologies can help make electricity more affordable for everyone.
The Climate Center CEO Kat Lockwood said:
“By signing SB 913, Governor Newsom is delivering on his promise to bring down electricity costs and clean up climate pollution. Not only will this law provide relief for Californians struggling with high utility bills, it creates a foundation for climate action and affordability our next governor can build on. We’re grateful to Senator Becker for his leadership and to Governor Newsom for taking this step toward clean, reliable electricity for all.”
Electricity rates for customers of California’s three main investor-owned utilities — SoCal Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Pacific Gas & Electric — have increased by an average of 89 percent over the last decade, creating an immense financial burden for families across the state. At the same time, millions of California homes and businesses already have smart thermostats, electric vehicles, and home battery storage. These distributed energy resources can be aggregated to provide clean energy and stabilize the electrical grid, lowering bills by reducing the amount of energy utilities have to buy.
Until now, California hasn’t leveraged existing distributed energy resources to their fullest potential for clean, affordable electricity.
Senator Josh Becker said:
“Californians have already invested in millions of batteries, electric vehicles, smart thermostats, and other technologies that can help keep our grid reliable. We should be putting them to work. Instead of simply building more expensive infrastructure and passing those costs on to ratepayers, SB 913 helps us get more out of resources Californians have already paid for. That means more competition, a cleaner and more reliable grid, and an opportunity to lower costs for everyone.”
California requires electricity providers to have enough power available through the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) Resource Adequacy program. The CPUC also establishes rules on what can qualify for Resource Adequacy. Providers usually rely on large-scale, polluting power plants to meet these requirements. SB 913 will require the CPUC to update these rules so distributed energy resources can fully qualify for Resource Adequacy and integrate distributed resources into the energy market.
SB 913 was co-sponsored by The Climate Center and Environment California.
Environment California State Director Laura Deehan said:
“This bill will allow California to take advantage of the millions of solar-powered home batteries, EVs, and smart thermostats throughout the state to power even more of our lives. Harnessing more of these clean energy devices will help California avoid relying on dirty energy sources such as natural gas power plants for reliability. We’re grateful to Senator Becker for signing this important bill, and we will build off of this progress to continue to work towards 100 percent clean energy.”
ENDS
Contact: Ryan Schleeter, Communications Director, The Climate Center: ryan@theclimatecenter.org, (415) 342-2386
About The Climate Center:
Since 2001, The Climate Center has been a leader in making climate solutions a reality in California at speed and scale. We are a think-tank, do-tank working to turn bold ideas into action for a climate-safe future. www.theclimatecenter.org
