Energy: electrical demand forecasts.

Assembly Member Schultz's proposal to modernize California's electrical demand forecasting aims to integrate automated demand management capabilities into the state's grid reliability planning. The legislation directs the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to establish methodologies by December 2026 that would allow utilities to adjust their demand forecasts based on behind-the-meter technologies and programs that modify electrical usage patterns.

The commission would work with load-serving entities and resource aggregators to define protocols for calculating how distributed energy resources and demand response programs reliably reduce or shift electrical demand. The bill authorizes the commission to test various technological approaches in partnership with utilities and distributed energy aggregators to validate the performance of flexible demand resources. These findings would inform how load-serving entities can modify their hourly resource adequacy obligations - the amount of generating capacity they must maintain to ensure reliability.

This builds upon the commission's existing authority to conduct biennial energy demand forecasts and set load management standards. While current forecasting incorporates some demand-side program impacts, the bill's authors note it does not fully account for automated load shifting capabilities that could help maintain grid reliability as California transitions to renewable energy sources. The commission would evaluate both new and existing mechanisms for expanding load management opportunities and may include recommendations in its integrated energy policy report.