AB 643 (Berman) Solar and Storage interconnection timelines

Existing law vests the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and requires the CPUC to make various reports to the Legislature, including a report on the progress made toward modernizing the State’s distribution and transmission grid and the impacts of distributed energy resources on the State’s distribution and transmission grid.

This bill, sponsored by the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA), would require the CPUC, on or before June 1 of each year, to submit a report to the Legislature on timelines for the interconnection of customer-sited energy generation and storage resources. The bill would require the CPUC to consider the negligent exceedance of an interconnection timeline by an electrical corporation to be a failure to comply with a rule of the CPUC and subject to a penalty. The bill would require an electrical corporation to provide a substantial response to any queries from an interconnection applicant related to the completeness of the application and the submission of supporting information to pending applications within 3 business days.

Committee Location: Assembly Energy Committee; hearing set for March 22

Full bill text and related information.

Bill Author

Assemblymember Marc Berman

Marc Berman was first elected to the California State Assembly in November 2016. He represents the 23rd Assembly District, which includes southern San Mateo County and northern Santa Clara County, spanning from the heart of Silicon Valley over the hill to the beautiful Coastside. Marc has sent 73 bills to the Governor in his first six years in office. He championed legislation that requires elections officials to mail voters a ballot before every election. He wrote the law to phase out the sale of new gas-powered landscape equipment statewide and authored landmark legislation to reform the college transfer process from a student perspective. In addition, Marc wrote legislation to make it easier for Californians to cancel their subscriptions online. In previous years, Marc authored bills to establish the first-in-the-nation firearm violence prevention training program for physicians, provide suicide prevention training for middle and high school students and staff, crack down on nefarious political and pornographic deepfakes, and create a Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights. In addition to chairing the Business and Professions Committee, Marc also serves on the Assembly Governmental Organization; Insurance; and Transportation committees. Prior to the 2020 Census, Marc led the Assembly’s efforts to prepare for the federal population count as chair of the Assembly Select Committee on the Census.

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