California regulators and utilities want to build microgrids for communities most at threat from the state’s increasingly deadly wildfires, and the widespread public safety power shutoff (PSPS) grid outages meant to prevent them. But despite policies to fund and enable these microgrids, California is still far from finding effective ways to get them in place for next year’s fire season.

Even Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility most affected by wildfires and fire-prevention blackouts, is struggling to find solutions to replace the hundreds of megawatts’ worth of mobile diesel generators it’s secured to back up Northern California communities facing power outages. This week, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed decision to boost action on these fronts, including earmarking up to $350 million for utility “clean substation microgrid” proposals in the 2021-2022 timeframe.