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California signs SB 913 and SB 905 to open virtual power plants

Gov. Newsom signed SB 913 and SB 905 on Sept. 30, 2026. Per the CALSSA release, they set up resource-adequacy pathways for customer batteries by mid-2027 and a grid utilization metric for distribution circuits.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 4, 2026 · Updated 10/4/2026

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 913 and SB 905, both by Sen. Josh Becker, on September 30, 2026, according to a release from the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA), an industry group that supported the bills. Canary Media also reported the signing. This brief relies on the CALSSA description of what the laws do; the bill texts were not reviewed.

CALSSA says SB 913 removes restrictions on customer batteries bidding into the wholesale market and directs the California Public Utilities Commission to set a valuation method for customer-sited batteries that export power during grid stress, so they can count toward resource adequacy. It requires the commission, with the Energy Commission and the California Independent System Operator, to improve pathways for aggregated distributed resources to qualify as resource adequacy capacity on or before June 30, 2027.

SB 905 creates a grid utilization metric for each segment of the distribution grid, to show which circuits have spare capacity, and gives the commission a path to require utilization to improve each year. CALSSA says customer batteries, EV chargers and smart thermostats could shift demand at lower cost than grid expansion.

CALSSA says more than 300,000 California customers have installed solar-charged batteries, with about 2,000 added every week. It also says implementation decisions on valuation, measurement and enrollment will fall to the next governor's appointees, so bill savings are not yet guaranteed.

Official source: calssa.org ↗