The new council would be authorized to mandate withdrawal if those interests are compromised.

Those senators sought assurances that the bill’s sponsors, Sens. Josh Becker and Henry Stern, both Democrats, would work with members of the state Assembly to return the bill to something closer to its original form.

But other senators said they wanted to ensure preservation of an “off-ramp” from the RO, expressing worry that the ISO’s participation could compromise California’s environmental and clean energy policies, particularly in the face of the Trump administration’s efforts to support coal-fired generation.

Sen. Becker assured his colleagues the bill would not increase California’s exposure to federal political interference, but did point to the risks of the state losing potential “partners” on the electricity grid to “a market out of Little Rock” — SPP’s Markets+, the competitor for participants to CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM).

“Make no mistake: if we do not act, we will be worse off,” Becker said.

‘Strong Coalition’

During the debate, Sen. Tony Strickland (R), called the recent amendments to SB 540 “very problematic,” but expressed confidence Sens. Becker and Stern would “work out some of these problems” as the bill advances through the lower house.

Sen. Strickland pointed to the “strong coalition” backing the bill, including labor and business groups.

“I haven’t seen a coalition like this in a long time, and I’ve been on [Senate] Energy Committee going back 13, 14, 15 years,” he said. “… Because everybody understands status quo is not an option. We need to get this fixed. We need to move forward. We need to make sure energy is reliable for all California residents,” Strickland said.

‘Energy Island’

In his closing speech stumping for his bill, Sen. Becker reminded his Senate colleagues that SPP’s Markets+ has been able to attract more participants in recent months.

“So, if they’re able to sort of pull something together, we’ll end up isolated — so we need to do this, he said. “I appreciate everyone who’s had their input and wants to keep working on this going forward.”

Reactions

Clean energy groups that have backed the Pathways Initiative commended the California Senate for advancing the bill while also urging changes to bill as moves through the Assembly.

“California can’t afford to go it alone when it comes to meeting skyrocketing energy demand while tackling the energy affordability crisis,” Edson Perez, California lead at Advanced Energy United (AEU), said in a statement. “We need to be able to keep the lights on in the fourth-largest economy in the world without charging ratepayers an arm and a leg. Joining a robust Western regional energy market is essential to keeping energy costs under control while still spearheading the transition to clean energy.”

AEU said bill supporters “remain committed to ongoing collaboration to ensure the final version reflects the shared priorities of the diverse coalition engaged in this effort for regional energy collaboration.”