| Independently Powered Energy News
state administration
Daily Energy Costs $100M in September
The September heat storm drove up the average daily energy costs for ratepayers in the California grid operators’ market to...
FERC Okays Utility Cybersecurity Incentives, Applauds CAISO for Avoiding Blackouts
Federal regulators reluctantly approved a proposed rulemaking Sept. 22 that would financially reward utilities for increasing their system’s cybersecurity protections...
Push to Postpone Closure Dates of Aging Coastal Power Plants, Once Again
A committee made up of energy, and coastal agency, and grid operator officials is calling for extending the lives of...
Grid Operator Calls First Flex Alert of the Summer
Updated Aug. 18 California's grid operator called on customers to lower their energy use for several hours Wednesday afternoon because...
Energy Officials to Justify Diablo Nuclear Power Plant Extension, Opposition Mounts
This Friday, officials from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, the California Energy Commission and the grid operator will delve into the...
CAISO May Operate Transmission Sending Wyoming Wind to California
Wind energy developer Anschutz Corp. asked the California grid operator in late July to manage at least 1,500 MW of...
California Policy Makers and Grid Operator Work to Advance Energy Storage
With the growing demand for energy storage to help decarbonize the grid and balance out intermittent renewable resources, the California...
Bill Aims to Drive Carbon Emission Reductions in Building Materials
The Senate Energy Utilities & Communication Committee passed legislation to slash the carbon intensity of new construction building materials and...
Humboldt Houses 1st Renewable Microgrid that Sells Power to the Grid
California’s first grid-connected large solar-battery microgrid went live last week after years of work by Cal Poly Humboldt’s Schatz Center,...
Energy Commission Seeks Sizable Role in Distributed Energy Planning
The California Energy Commission launched its first proceeding to advance increased use of electric vehicles, solar systems, battery storage, and...
Climate Protection Bills Move to the Assembly
The California Senate has passed a legislative package aimed at reducing climate emissions. Elements of the package include accelerating new...
Rethinking California Utilities’ Distribution Systems
As California moves to accommodate high flows of bi-directional distributed energy resources (DER), distribution system reform is needed, according to...
Merchant Battery Project in San Diego Follows Approval of SCE’s Big Storage
San Diego County’s energy grid is in for a major overhaul. A non-utility, 165 megawatt battery project located across nine...
Gas & Electricity Costs Rise More, High Heat, Fires and Tight Supplies Likely
Californians are getting hit by continually soaring electric and gas utility bills, including from rising gas prices, escalating transmission costs,...
JUICE: A Diablo Nuclear Power Plant Extension Faces High Hurdles
Rumblings about extending the life of Pacific Gas & Electric’s aging Diablo Nuclear Power Plant past the date its federal...
News Roundup: New Renewable Peak, East Bay Home Electrification Launched
California hit a new renewable energy peak of nearly 98%. This new record of nonfossil resources flowing into the grid...
Next Year’s $3B Green Resilient Grid Plan Okayed
The California grid operator approved spending $2.9 billion for 23 transmission projects in its 2022-23 plan, which largely aims to...
CAISO Regional Market Design Details Emerge, Big Questions Remain
The newly reinitiated stakeholder process to build a Western Day-Ahead Market took two steps forward that shows the California Independent...
Delays in Public Ability to Review Renewable Contract & Bids Shortened
It’s been nearly two decades since California first ordered utilities to enter into long-term contracts for renewable contracts and simultaneously...
California Grid Operator Aims for 2024 Regional Day-Ahead Market
The California-led real-time Energy Imbalance Market has delivered significant savings to Western power providers, but other regions’ market ambitions are...