What happened in this Energy story?

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed three bills on September 30 opening the door to plug-in balcony solar up to 1,200 watts, clearing regulatory pathways for virtual power plants, and requiring utilities to publish grid usage data and consider lower-cost alternatives to traditional infrastructure upgrades.

What is a key fact in this story? (1)

**Governor Gavin Newsom** signed three energy bills on September 30 — SB 868 (Wiener's Plug and Play Solar Act), SB 913 (Becker's Clean Local Power Act), and SB 905 (also Becker) — targeting balcony solar, virtual power plants, and grid optimization respectively.

What is a key fact in this story? (2)

**SB 868** legalizes plug-in balcony solar systems up to 1,200 watts AC per household that connect to a standard 120v outlet, with devices required to be UL-certified and include anti-islanding protection to prevent feeding power into the grid during outages.

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Newsom signs California balcony solar, virtual power plant bills — SkimNews

By Electrek · Summarized & edited by Kapil Samant · 2026-10-01

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Governor Gavin Newsom signed three energy bills on September 30 — SB 868 (Wiener's Plug and Play Solar Act), SB 913 (Becker's Clean Local Power Act), and SB 905 (also Becker) — targeting balcony solar, virtual power plants, and grid optimization respectively.
SB 868 legalizes plug-in balcony solar systems up to 1,200 watts AC per household that connect to a standard 120v outlet, with devices required to be UL-certified and include anti-islanding protection to prevent feeding power into the grid during outages.
SB 868 bars utilities from requiring interconnection agreements, advance approval, or device-related fees for qualifying systems, reducing the process to a simple online notification; the utility exemptions expire January 1, 2030.
SB 913 directs California regulators to improve pathways for coordinated home batteries, EVs, and smart thermostats (virtual power plants) to count toward utilities' reliability requirements, with a compliance deadline of June 30, 2028.
SB 905 forces large investor-owned utilities to publish grid utilization data, assess whether batteries or off-peak demand shifting can replace traditional infrastructure upgrades, and directs regulators to consider lower shareholder returns on certain utility investments.
Kat Lockwood, CEO of The Climate Center, called the package 'relief for Californians struggling with high utility bills' and a 'foundation for climate action and affordability that our next governor can build on.'

Why it matters: Renters and apartment dwellers — long locked out of rooftop solar — gain a $500-class alternative that skips interconnection fees entirely, while virtual power plant rules give home batteries and EVs a clearer path to compete with conventional power plants. SB 905's mandate to expose grid utilization data and reconsider shareholder returns on certain investments targets the specific mechanism behind California's rising utility bills, not just rooftop access.