Lawmakers advance bill to make utility grid data available for local microgrids

Assemblymember Irwin told the subcommittee AB 710 is intended to speed local microgrid development by requiring investor-owned utilities to identify critical circuits and provide distribution equipment data, circuit configurations, grid-hardening plans and other information local and tribal governments and community-choice aggregators need to evaluate and site microgrids.

Jordan Wells of the California State Association of Counties said early, detailed coordination with utilities is critical to project feasibility, citing interconnection barriers that limit microgrid deployment and an example of the Redwood Coast Airport microgrid'which islanded successfully during multiple outages. John Kennedy of the Rural County Representatives of California described repeated local impacts from PSPS events and fast-trip outages, and urged codifying durable data-sharing practices.

Representatives of Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric registered opposition in print and spoke to the committee. Valerie Turla of PG&E said the company supports microgrids and community partnerships but warned AB 710 could create a parallel process and raise concerns about broad access to highly sensitive infrastructure information; she asked for amendments to expressly exclude federally protected physical- and cybersecurity-sensitive assets. Israel Salas of SDG&E echoed concerns about privacy provisions and indicated the committee's amendments may address some issues.

Several senators praised the bill's goal of improving resilience amid rising PSPS frequency and described local incidents where the wrong circuits were identified in shutoffs. Committee members asked whether existing portals provide sufficiently detailed distribution-system data and whether AB 710 preserves statutory cybersecurity protections; Irwin and supporters said the bill accepts committee amendments aligning privacy and grid-security provisions with existing law and does not alter federal protections.

The committee took no final floor vote during the hearing; members indicated they would bring the measure back for a vote when a quorum was present.