Many MindedCalifornia rewrites the rules so home solar and batteries can be paid as grid resources
California has enacted two distributed energy resource laws, SB 905 and SB 913. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is leaving office, signed both on Sept. 30, 2026. Advocates and company representatives discussed them at a webinar hosted by Advanced Energy United (AEU) on Oct. 23.
SB 913 does most of the work for customers. It lets a customer enroll several devices behind one meter, and lets different aggregators manage different devices for that same customer. It gives the CPUC until June 2028 to lay the groundwork for DER aggregations to count as resource adequacy capacity in utility resource plans and state procurements. It bars double compensation for wholesale participation by owners or hosts already on net energy metering or net billing. Erik Lyon of Everyday Electric (formerly Renew Home) said it enables device-level telemetry rather than whole-home smart meter data, which he called the keystone for multi-resource enrollment.
SB 905 targets the utility side. It requires regulated utilities to collect and report data that could raise grid utilization. It also directs the CPUC to open proceedings on performance-based metrics for major utilities, and on alternative financing for utility capital investments in generation, transmission and distribution.
Why it matters: if rooftop solar, batteries and smart devices can be counted as capacity, the grid can lean on equipment customers already own instead of building new supply. That could lower costs and let households earn from their devices. Barring double payment and allowing several aggregators per customer are practical details that reduce friction. AEU also says a CAISO wholesale accounting proposal, part of an initiative begun in 2025, could add more than 2 GW of DER wholesale participation.
What to watch: the benefits are claimed mainly by advocates and an aggregator. The 2 GW figure is AEU's estimate of a proposal, not an adopted change. AEU's Brian Turner said SB 913's real impact depends on upcoming proceedings at the CPUC and CAISO. Newsom vetoed several similar bills in 2025, citing a budget shortfall and risk of unintended consequences. Advocates say affordability concerns helped these pass.
Source: Utility Dive