Renewable Energy World reports that California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed SB 1006 into law, requiring utilities to evaluate grid enhancing technologies (GETs) as often as every two years in transmission planning. The article quotes United's Edson Perez, who stated that the bill incentivizes the state to find the best ways to deploy these technologies across California’s utilities.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed SB 1006 into law, requiring utilities to evaluate grid enhancing technologies (GETs) including dynamic line ratings, advanced power flow control devices, and topology optimization at least as often as every two years in transmission planning.

California utilities will be required to evaluate GETs projects for seven distinct cost-saving, decarbonization, and safety benefits:

• Increased transmission capacity
• Reduced transmission system congestion
• Reduced curtailment of renewable and zero-carbon resources
• Increased reliability
• Reduced risk of igniting wildfire
• Increased capacity to connect new renewable energy and zero-carbon resources
• Increased flexibility to reduce risks surrounding technology and permitting uncertainties and improve optionality for load-serving entities

Once fully deployed, these tools promise to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars of wholesale electricity cost savings every year, according to the WATT Coalition, which advocates for GETs.

“SB 1006 will unlock the cheapest generation for Californians and help the grid adapt to the changing climate,” said Julia Selker, executive director of the WATT Coalition. “We applaud Governor Newsom for signing this bill to ensure that Californians get the full value out of grid investments, and that utilities are using the most cost-effective tools to manage the energy transition.” 

In the past decade, PG&E customers have faced a staggering 128% increase in their energy bills, and Californians pay more for electricity than any state in the lower 48, despite the state’s advanced renewable energy infrastructure.

While costly wildfire mitigation efforts contribute to higher rates, GETs provide a path to cost reduction by preventing avoidable fires by optimizing the flow of energy and identifying power lines prone to overheating or congestion, enabling more clean energy integration and reducing primary causes of curtailment by up to 40% or more.

Some estimate this pivotal piece of legislation, one of three clean energy bills awaiting the Governor’s signature, will enhance California’s grid capacity between 10-30%, perhaps more.

“There’s no energy transition without transmission, and it’s the big bottleneck right now to getting cheap renewable energy to where it’s needed,” explained Edson Perez, California lead at Advanced Energy United on a quick phone call with Renewable Energy World.

It can take a decade or longer to build out new transmission in California but GETs are relatively straightforward upgrades that can be deployed quickly and deliver benefits exceeding their costs within months.