Distributed Electricity Backup Assets (DEBA) Program

The Distributed Electricity Backup Assets Program sits under the California Energy Commission and supports cleaner distributed assets that can provide emergency backup when the grid is under stress. It was created by AB 205, and its 2025-26 budget is $46.1 million after 2025 budget cuts. The program pays for clean microgrids, non-residential distributed clean energy, and aggregated residential assets paired with storage. It is open to for-profit firms and nonprofits with US registration and operations, and the current cycle is still in development rather than open, so there is no live solicitation to apply to yet. This is a public-safety and reliability program more than a research call, so applicants need a site, a load-reduction or backup-supply use case, and a design that can respond to extreme grid events. The Commission has said public engagement is planned, and the program sits alongside DSGS as one of the state's main backup-power tools.

No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: One-off.