Information provided by the office of Congressman Jimmy Panetta.
On June 11, Congressman Jimmy Panetta joined Congressman Mike Thompson and fellow members of the Bay Area Delegation—Congress members Anna G. Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren, Doris Matsui, Ami Bera, Jared Huffman, Doug LaMalfa, Eric Swalwell, Mark DeSaulnier, and Ro Khanna—in introducing the bipartisan Utility Resilience and Reliability Act. According to a press release, the bill will help build resiliency into Federal power standards and help provide programs and recommendations on responding to and mitigating the impact of extreme weather events. Plans for this bill were first announced in late November and in response to last year’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs.
“Communities across California have experienced multiple power shutoffs over the years. A big part of the problem has been the lack of investment in our infrastructure, including our electric grid,” Panetta said. “Our legislation is a step in the right direction when it comes to reinforcing our infrastructure and ensuring the lights stay on in our communities.”
According to the release, the bill aims to make the electrical grid more resilient to these events by:
- Establishing a reliability standard, within the Federal Power Act, that addresses resiliency in regard to extreme weather events
- Establishing a program through the Department of Energy (DOE) to advise and, be a resource for, states and local utilities on ways to improve the resiliency of their electrical grids
- Requiring DOE to publish a report that provides recommendations on how to minimize the need for, effects of, and duration of planned electric power outages that are due to extreme weather conditions.
Click here to read the full text of the bill.