The California Energy Commission plans to issue a $46.1 million solicitation in the second quarter of 2026 for clean energy microgrids and new non-residential or aggregated residential distributed clean energy and storage projects.
The commission’s staff is now developing regulations and the draft solicitation for the program.
The money comes from the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond of 2024, also known as Proposition 4, which authorized the issuance of $10 billion in bonds to strengthen communities against climate change.
Winning projects must act as on-call emergency resources during extreme events.
Those eligible for funds are: public and local agencies, nonprofits, special districts, joint powers authorities, utilities, mutual water companies and tribes.
More information is available here.
Feds Forecast Record High Capacity Additions in 2026, Most of it from Solar, Batteries and Wind
If the Trump administration is at war with renewable energy, it appears to be losing, based on federal government figures.
The US Energy Information Administration reported this week that solar, batteries and wind will make up most of the 86 GW expected to be added to the grid this year. If all of the projects come to be, it will mark a record-high capacity addition.
Utility-scale solar alone makes up 51% – a 60% increase over last year. That’s followed by energy storage at 28% and wind at 14%. Natural gas comes in next at 6.3%.
Four states are building most of the solar: Texas (40%), Arizona (6%), California (6%), and Michigan (5%).
The report did not look at customer-site solar and batteries.
New Jersey to Look at Alternative Utility Business Models
New Jersey regulators this week voted to hire a consultant to examine alternative utility business models to drive down electricity costs for New Jersey customers.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is seeking a consultant via a request for qualifications.
The commission intends to look at how the traditional utility model and recent trends affect electricity affordability. It also hopes to identify policy pathways and opportunities for long-term cost reductions and stable electricity bills.
Among other things, the commission will examine ways to make utility revenue models less dependent on capital spending and to expand performance-based ratemaking.
The examination is part of a larger push by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill to reduce energy costs in the state, which includes requiring more utility support of distributed energy.
