Grid Infrastructure - California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Barrier 1: Grid Infrastructure

Barrier Statement

Insufficient and aging infrastructure (e.g. battery storage, smart grid, transmission) cannot adequately support or optimize growing energy demand (e.g EVs, VPPs, AI, data centers, housing), the rapid transition to renewables, abundant day-time energy, and reliability as climate impacts increase.

A Sampling of How Communities are Experiencing this Barrier

California’s distribution and transmission systems are increasingly unable to meet the demands of electrification and climate resilience. Infrastructure built for a different era now faces mounting stress from extreme heat, wildfires, and storms, while grid upgrades proceed reactively without coordinated, long-term planning. Communities experience this as recurring outages and Public Safety Power Shutoffs that disrupt essential services; failed building electrification projects where heat pumps and EV chargers cannot proceed due to insufficient transformer capacity; stranded renewable generation when transmission constraints force curtailment during peak production; prohibitive upgrade costs that make clean energy investments financially unviable; limited energy storage unable to bridge daytime solar abundance to evening demand or provide extended backup during outages; and fragmented planning where utility, local, regional, and state efforts fail to align. Lengthy interconnection timelines addressed in Barrier 1 compound these grid capacity constraints, further stalling clean energy deployment. These challenges disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities facing the oldest infrastructure, longest delays, highest climate vulnerability, and least capacity to finance workarounds.

Filterable Database

How communities are experiencing this barrier

View the details on what communities have shared with SLECC from across the state.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Statewide

Aging, Undersized, and Fragmented Grid Infrastructure. Distribution and transmission systems are aging, undersized, and increasingly stressed by climate-driven disruptions such as extreme heat, wildfires, and storms. Grid upgrades often occur in a piecemeal, reactive manner without cohesive, long-term planning aligned with electrification and resilience goals, leading to higher costs, inefficiencies, and constrained clean-energy deployment.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Statewide

Energy storage is constrained by limited duration and scale relative to system needs. Current storage solutions are insufficient to shift abundant daytime renewable generation to peak periods or maintain reliability during extended events, constraining electrification and resilience.

Local Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by local leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

Local Solution

Pursue aggregated, multi-jurisdiction clean-energy projects to improve interconnection feasibility and cost-effectiveness.

Existing Examples of Progress:

1. Clean Power Allance, a community choice aggregator serving Los Angeles and Ventura Counties targeted low income customers with its first Virtual Power Plant. By partnering with Haven Energy, CPA provided zero -cost solar-plus-storage systems to 300 qualifying low-income customers, creating a 4.8 MWh VPP expected to save $380,000 in resource adequacy costs over three years while advancing energy equity. 2. Ava Community Energy coordinated electrification plans for multiple East Bay cities, enabling them to secure CEC funding and move projects through the pipeline together.

Further Progress Pathways

CPUC High Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Proceeding (R.21-06-017): This ongoing proceeding is focused on modernizing the electric grid to accommodate high levels of DERs like solar and storage

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles

Local Solution

Regional governance alignment – Establish regional planning tables so local governments, CCAs, and utilities coordinate grid modernization strategies rather than acting in silos

Existing Examples of Progress:

Clean Power Alliance, a community choice aggregator serving Los Angeles and Ventura Counties targeted low income customers with its first Virtual Power Plant. By partnering with Haven Energy, CPA provided zero -cost solar-plus-storage systems to 300 qualifying low-income customers, creating a 4.8 MWh VPP expected to save $380,000 in resource adequacy costs over three years while advancing energy equity.

Further Progress Pathways

CEC IEPR and SB 100 Reports: The California Energy Commission (CEC) addresses grid infrastructure in its ongoing 2025 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) and the SB 100 Joint Agency Reports, which look beyond just generation capacity to consider the entire electricity system, including the necessary infrastructure upgrades and expansion to ensure a reliable and resilient clean energy grid.

Region(s): Los Angeles, San Diego

Local Solution

Incorporating grid capacity realities into local capital and climate planning. Participants described accounting for known grid limitations when prioritizing projects.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

CEC IEPR and SB 100 Reports: The California Energy Commission (CEC) addresses grid infrastructure in its ongoing 2025 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) and the SB 100 Joint Agency Reports, which look beyond just generation capacity to consider the entire electricity system, including the necessary infrastructure upgrades and expansion to ensure a reliable and resilient clean energy grid.

Region(s): Statewide

State Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by state leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

State Solution

Increase planning reserve margins / reliability planning allowances to reflect extreme events and compounding risks.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

1. CEC IEPR and SB 100 Reports: The California Energy Commission (CEC) addresses grid infrastructure in its ongoing 2025 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) and the SB 100 Joint Agency Reports, which look beyond just generation capacity to consider the entire electricity system, including the necessary infrastructure upgrades and expansion to ensure a reliable and resilient clean energy grid. 2. CPUC High Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Proceeding (R.21-06-017): This ongoing proceeding is focused on modernizing the electric grid to accommodate high levels of DERs like solar and storage

Region(s): Statewide

State Solution

Scale demand-side resources (demand flexibility, demand response, energy efficiency) and expand load management standards.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

1. CEC IEPR and SB 100 Reports: The California Energy Commission (CEC) addresses grid infrastructure in its ongoing 2025 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) and the SB 100 Joint Agency Reports, which look beyond just generation capacity to consider the entire electricity system, including the necessary infrastructure upgrades and expansion to ensure a reliable and resilient clean energy grid. 2. CPUC High Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Proceeding (R.21-06-017): This ongoing proceeding is focused on modernizing the electric grid to accommodate high levels of DERs like solar and storage

Region(s): Statewide

State Solution

Improve statewide grid planning by accounting for climate-driven variability and updating load forecasts (including EV demand).

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

CEC IEPR and SB 100 Reports: The California Energy Commission (CEC) addresses grid infrastructure in its ongoing 2025 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) and the SB 100 Joint Agency Reports, which look beyond just generation capacity to consider the entire electricity system, including the necessary infrastructure upgrades and expansion to ensure a reliable and resilient clean energy grid.

Region(s): Statewide

Solution Spotlight

Clean Power Alliance, a community choice aggregator serving Los Angeles and Ventura Counties targeted low income customers with its first Virtual Power Plant. By partnering with Haven Energy, CPA provided zero -cost solar-plus-storage systems to 300 qualifying low-income customers, creating a 4.8 MWh VPP expected to save $380,000 in resource adequacy costs over three years while advancing energy equity.

California Tribes like Blue Lake Rancheria and Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians are sheparding leading solutions to grid infrastructure limitations and vulnerabilities through innovative microgrid and long-duration storage deployments that address both aging infrastructure and the need for extended backup power during climate disruptions.. The CEC has helped to fund projects like these through its EPIC program.

Local governments like the Cities of Calistoga and Fremont are helping to modernize grid infrastructure. The Calistoga Resiliency Center is the world’s first ultra-long duration hybrid microgrid combining hydrogen fuel cells with lithium-ion batteries. Fremont deployed solar-plus-battery microgrids at multiple fire stations through a public-private partnership with Gridscape Solutions and CEC funding.

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