CPUC Brings ESPs into Renewables Fold

The California Public Utilities Commission voted this week to expand the renewables portfolio standard requirements to nonutility energy service providers. Although energy service providers are banned from adding new customers because of a prohibition on direct access, regulators paved the way for them to have the same renewable energy component in their portfolios as is required of investor-owned utilities. In its unanimous October 5 decision, however, the commission declined to create interim compliance requirements for renewable energy credits because regulators didn't want to command the market. Instead, according to CPUC president Mike Peevey, market participants have the ability to create their own approach to meeting the standard. New state law SB 107 requires electricity providers to incorporate renewables-based power as at least 20 percent of their energy portfolios by 2010. The commission also initiated a financial penalty to enforce companies' filing of data on resource adequacy. The commission may now levy a fine of $1,000 per incident plus $500 a day for the first 10 days the filing is late. The data in question cover historical load, preliminary load forecasts, and month-ahead system resource-adequacy compliance. To date, there have been a relatively small number of failures to meet the filing requirements, but "we want to make sure that doesn't turn into a large number," said Sean Gallagher, Energy Division director. - J.A. Savage

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CPUC Brings ESPs into Renewables Fold

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