Energy.

Assembly Member Garcia's industrial decarbonization legislation expands California's Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Program to include projects that reduce emissions from industrial heat and power usage. The bill authorizes the Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank to provide financing for industrial heat pump and thermal energy storage initiatives while establishing labor and community benefit requirements.

The legislation creates an Industrial Facilities Thermal Energy Storage Program within the state's Long-Duration Energy Storage Program to fund decarbonization projects at industrial sites. Eligible storage facilities must connect to California's electrical grid and may utilize technologies such as compressed air, flow batteries, or thermal storage systems. The program excludes pumped storage projects and lithium-ion batteries from funding eligibility.

The bill renames and updates the Industrial Grid Support Program to become the Industrial Decarbonization and Improvement of Grid Operations Program. New provisions require funded projects to incorporate high-road jobs, project labor agreements, and workforce training components. Facilities with past air permit violations must develop pollution remediation plans. The program prioritizes projects in under-resourced communities and those that establish community benefit agreements with local stakeholders. Individual funding recipients cannot receive more than 20 percent of allocated program funds.