Ceres welcomed the California Legislature’s passage of three bills intended to reduce electricity costs and modernize the state’s energy system, and urged the governor to sign them. The measures focus on improving use of existing grid infrastructure, accelerating permitting and interconnection for clean energy projects, and increasing grid flexibility through electric vehicles, rooftop solar and batteries. SB 905 would require utilities to make better use of existing grid infrastructure, AB 2493 seeks to streamline project permitting and interconnection, and SB 913 would expand use of distributed energy resources already connected to the system. Ceres also noted that lawmakers did not approve funding to sustain the Demand Side Grid Support virtual power plant program, which it views as a tool for managing demand, reliability and costs. California’s commercial electricity prices are nearly twice the national average.