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Transmission & Distribution
Transmission Planning Must Reflect High Electrification Levels, Agencies Say
The state energy agencies and the grid operator are working to meld their approaches to transmission planning in light of...
FERC Moves to Ease Renewable & Storage Projects’ Grid Connections
Federal regulators launched proposed rules to speed up belabored interconnections of renewable and storage projects to enable a changing resource...
Budget Revise Supporting 5 GW of Fossil Power & Waiving Environmental Laws Faces Pushback
The governor’s proposed budget revision providing $5.2 billion—with the lion’s share going to the Department of Water Resources—to add 5,000...
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...
Gov’s Revised Budget Adding $9.5B to Climate Programs Met with Little Enthusiasm
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed May revise of the state budget would hike state spending on clean energy, emissions reductions and...
Federal Regulators Propose Giving States More Say in Regional Transmission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved 4-1 a proposed rulemaking that would give California and other states a larger role...
Bills Back Ratepayer Bonds for Tree Cutting Costs; New Clean Energy Workforce Office
The Assembly Utilities & Energy Committee on April 20 passed legislation to expand private utilities’ access to ratepayer-backed bonds and...
Bills Advancing Power Line Undergrounding and Alternative Energy and Vehicles Pass
The state Senate energy committee has approved legislation to accelerate the undergrounding of overhead power lines to reduce fire and...
Energy Agencies Strive to Advance Cost-Effective, Long-Duration Grid Storage
Significant amounts of energy storage with continuous output of eight hours and far longer will be needed to reach a...
Calif’s Zero Emissions Goal Drives Huge New Demand, Weird Math and Dunkelflaute
California may face up to a 90% growth in electricity demand to meet its economy-wide zero emissions by 2045 goal,...
Grid Operator Proposes $30 Billion for Green Grid
For the first time, the California grid operator has released a draft 20-year plan for a grid that supports total...
FERC Won’t Allow PG&E to Bill Ratepayers $6M for Transmission Planning
Federal energy regulators rejected Pacific Gas & Electric’s request to swiftly recoup $6 million it spent downscaling three transmission projects...
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...
Guest Editorial: A Long-Term Vision Will Help California Decarbonize Faster and Cheaper
SB 100 set clean power goals for California, providing a clear and bold statement of the state’s commitment to global...
Replacement of Dirty Oakland Peaker Delayed
The plan to swap out the polluting Oakland Energy Center with battery storage this coming January has been delayed because...
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...
Shorts
Strong dry offshore winds resulted in Pacific Gas & Electric shutting off power to 25,000 customers in 20 counties starting...
Out-of-State Utilities Join Forces to Consider Western Market
Updated Oct. 13 A dozen utilities from Puget Sound to Colorado have announced they’re exploring the formation of a western-wide...