Sign this petition to urge the State of California to take action on IOU Public Safety Power Shutoffs! The Governor has declared a State of Emergency and it's time he and the state take action to keep the lights on!

The California Investor Owned Utilities are subjecting residents and businesses all over the state to Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) as the solution to not starting wildfires. California is the 5th largest economy in the world. California is the tech capital of the world. Our residents and businesses pay some of the highest energy rates in the country. The California Utilities should not be sending us to the dark ages in the 21st century!

PSPS outages are drastically impacting Californian's quality of life, health, and safety. The utilities care about their finances and mitigating risk, they do not care about people, as evidenced by their actions cutting power to more than half the state. Diesel generators are NOT the answer! Microgrids are a clean and resilient solution that can be deployed at scale across the state. The utilities don't want competition eating into their profits so they put up barriers to development like long approval and construction timelines so they have stifled microgrids in utility regulation.

We have the technology to keep the lights on and critical facilities running! It can be deployed quickly. We cannot let the greedy utilities keep us in the dark with outages! We require the political will of the Governor, Legislature and Public Utilities Commission to authorize funding for microgrids and backup power!

What is a microgrid?

Ø Microgrids utilize a combination of clean and efficient technologies such as solar, wind, batteries, fuel cells and other sources to create a mini-power grid that can provide long-term power during extended outages.

What are the benefits?

Ø Microgrids offer multiple benefits:

o Resiliency: They provide long-term power during these extended outages.

o Clean: They integrate more renewable energy and clean technologies.

o Healthy: They displace dirty diesel generators that emit air pollutants that threaten public health.

o Cost-savings: Most electricity is generated hundreds of miles from where it is consumed, and then transmitted over long-distance power lines that are aging, inefficient, and unsafe in California’s increasingly hazardous climate and weather conditions. In contrast, microgrids are located on site—in the neighborhood, next to the business, or in the building—reducing expensive equipment and major infrastructure investment necessary to move electricity from far away.

How do microgrids help achieve clean energy goals?

Ø Microgrids are a way to incorporate multiple, renewable energy sources into one integrated system. For example, a hospital, university, or data center can combine solar, batteries, and other technologies into a microgrid to power their facilities. By combining these technologies into a highly reliable system, microgrids displace dirty diesel generators— which pollute the air and endanger the health of nearby residents—that are usually used for emergency situations when the larger grid goes down.