Community Energy Resilience Act of 2021.

Existing law establishes within the Natural Resources Agency the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission. Existing law assigns the commission various duties, including applying for and accepting grants, contributions, and appropriations, and awarding grants consistent with the goals and objectives of a program or activity the commission is authorized to implement or administer. This bill, the Community Energy Resilience Act of 2021, would require the commission to develop and implement a grant program for local governments to develop community energy resilience plans and expedite permit review of distributed energy resources by local governments. The bill would require that the plans be consistent with the city, county, or city and county general plan and other local government planning documents. The bill would require a plan to identify critical facilities, locations and facilities where the construction of microgrids could meet local resilience needs, and potential funding sources, as specified. The bill would require the commission to maintain a publicly available and searchable database of all local governments receiving grant funding pursuant to the program. The bill would require a local government, as a condition of receiving grant funding, to submit its plan to the commission within 6 months of completing the plan. The bill would require the commission to annually report specified information about the grant program to the Legislature and post the report on its internet website.