Senators introduce bill to help prevent power shutoffs, improve grid resiliency

WASHINGTON (KION) California Senator Alex Padilla announced Thursday that he and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) have introduced a bill aimed to help prepare electrical grids around the country for weather events.

The Power On Act is expected to help electricity providers and suppliers get federal funding to protect facilities and infrastructure from events like heat waves, droughts, California wildfires and freezing temperatures in Texas.

Wildfires in California broke records last year, according to Padilla's office, and 6 of the top 10 most destructive fires have happened in the last three years. At least three of the fires started because of utility equipment. Energy companies in the state have conducted 33 public safety power shutoffs to prevent wildfires, but they left millions of residents without power for days.

“Once-in-a-generation weather events are now becoming a regular occurrence,” Padilla said. “Whether it be public safety power shutoffs or electric system failures due to extreme weather events, we must invest in grid resilience and modernization in order to keep the power on in impacted communities. We can’t leave another family in the dark during wildfire season or without heat in a blizzard. That’s why Senator Cornyn and I are proposing these necessary, smart investments to strengthen our electric grid and create jobs to boost our economy in the process.”

Padilla's office says the bill would provide grants to states and tribes for projects to enhance grid resiliency, and they would be allocated every year through an application process. The grants could be used for activities, technology, equipment and hardening measures, but not new constructions. The bill would also provide grants for research and development.