Program Update: In November 2024, California voters approved Proposition 4, known as the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond of 2024 which authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10 billion for projects to strengthen communities against climate change. In September 2025, the 2025-26 Budget appropriated $46.1 million for the DEBA Program to fund new clean microgrids, or new non-residential or aggregated residential distributed clean energy and storage projects. A draft solicitation is currently in development and program staff are planning for public engagement opportunities in 2026. See the Proposition 4 informational slide deck. Please sign up for the DEBA email subscription topic to receive the latest updates.
Information on DEBA’s previous solicitation for Bulk Grid Asset Enhancements (GFO-23-401) can be found below.
- Proposition 4 otherwise known as SB 867 (Allen 2024), The Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024 authorized additional funding for the DEBA Program’s distributed energy assets solicitation.
- SB 105 (Wiener, Chapter 104, Statutes of 2025) appropriated $46,144,000 in Prop 4 funding for DEBA.
- Please visit the CNRA Prop 4 Climate Bond webpage for additional information.
- DEBA staff are currently developing a draft solicitation and are planning opportunities for public engagement in 2026. Please sign up for the DEBA email subscription topic to receive updates.
- Bulk Grid Asset Enhancements for Grid Reliability Solicitation (GFO-23-401)
- Notice of Proposed Award issued on April 22, 2024
- DEBA Program Guidelines, First Edition, Adopted October 18, 2023
Assembly Bill 205 (Ting, Chapter 61, Statutes of 2022) created the Strategic Reliability Reserve to support the state’s electric grid reliability during extreme events. PRC Section 25790(c) states, “As California transitions to a clean energy future and contends with climate impacts and other challenges, sufficient capacity of new and existing generation assets will be required to maintain reliability during extreme events.”
AB 205 requires the CEC to implement and administer the DEBA Program, codified in PRC Sections 25791 and 25791.5. The DEBA Program provides funding for constructing cleaner and more efficient distributed energy assets and efficiency upgrades, maintenance, and capacity additions to existing power generators that will serve as on-call emergency supply or load reduction for the state’s electrical grid during extreme events, such as heat waves.