This paper presents a pathway for reforms needed in California to achieve a future in which everyone has access to clean, affordable, and reliable electricity. The landscape in this new world is dotted with solar panels on every suitable rooftop, complemented by a resilient network of microgrids as well as mobile and stationary batteries that seamlessly balance energy supply and demand. Clean air is widespread as fossil fuel generation no longer pollutes.
The proposed reforms are driven by strong economic, moral, and practical reasons that highlight the need for immediate action:
- California faces an electricity affordability crisis, with rates soaring far beyond national averages and contributing to financial distress for many households.
- The dual pressures of increasing electricity demand and climate change — combined with skewed utility incentives toward capital-intensive infrastructure — are driving up costs.
- Environmental injustice persists. Polluting, fossil-fueled power plants disproportionately harm lower-income communities of color, while local, clean energy solutions are out of reach for these communities due to regulatory and financial constraints.
- State policies and planning practices continue to suppress Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), including local-scale solar, mobile and stationary battery storage, and microgrids.
The integration of DERs into California’s electrical grid will reshape our energy ecosystem, transforming our one-way system of power flowing from the grid to users into a flexible, bidirectional system capable of both supplying and saving electricity.
Key policy recommendations:
To fully harness the benefits of this technology revolution, California must:
- Dismantle regulatory roadblocks;
- Reform grid planning and architecture;
- Enable an open-access distribution network where electricity is bought and sold;
- Acknowledge and compensate the full value of DERs; and
- Reform the ways in which utilities are compensated to incentivize least cost alternatives and better align with state climate goals for reliability, resilience, and equity.
This new energy ecosystem will usher in an era of clean, affordable, reliable, and resilient energy, accelerating the achievement of California’s clean energy goals. It will demonstrate to the nation and the world what is possible. The Grid for the Future isn’t a far-fetched dream, but an attainable reality with existing technologies if policymakers act with ambition and determination.
The Climate Center welcomes comments, questions, and feedback about this policy brief. Please reach out to us at info@theclimatecenter.org.
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Jasmin Ansar
Senior Climate Researcher
