Updated September 6, 2023.
On Friday, September 1, 2023, the Assembly Appropriations Committee amended SB 233 to remove the core of the bill: mandating that all electric passenger vehicles and school buses sold in California by model year 2030 have bidirectional charging capability. In response, bill author Senator Nancy Skinner has decided to make SB 233 a two-year bill, meaning it will not be taken up in the legislature again until 2024.
The Climate Center will continue working to restore the key elements of the bill and unlock the full potential of electric vehicles to keep the power on, clean up the air, and lower energy bills for Californians. While we are disappointed that the bill is delayed, this gives us the opportunity to build an even stronger base of support and pass the most ambitious policy possible in 2024.
As the climate crisis worsens, California needs clean, resilient, affordable energy solutions more than ever. Keeping the electricity on during heat waves, storms, and other climate disasters is a matter of life and death. EVs are our state’s greatest untapped asset for reliable electricity. Requiring EVs to be bidirectional in the near future will have immediate benefits for Californians and it will send a critical, global market signal — that is the vision we’re committed to.
We’re grateful to our partners and thousands of supporters who took action in support of bidirectional electric vehicles. We will continue organizing together for a cleaner, more reliable, and more equitable electricity system for California!
More information
In the news
- How California can use electric vehicles to solve its blackouts (San Francisco Chronicle, September 1, 2023)
- Editorial: EVs have big batteries. They should come equipped to power homes and the grid in emergencies (Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2023)
- Skinner: California should require that EVs can power homes, businesses (East Bay Times, June 14, 2023)
- A California bill could help make EVs a blackout solution (Grist, May 4, 2023)
- How your car can power your home (San Jose Mercury News, April 17, 2023)
- Editorial: California should tap its growing fleet of EVs to prevent blackouts (Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2023)
