Distributed Generation

In pursuit of Governor Brown's goal of 20,000 MW of DG by 2020, the California Energy Commission staff has scheduled a workshop to receive comments on a study of the costs and impacts on the electricity system associated with increased distributed generation (DG) installations in California, and how costs and impacts change based on interconnection location, distribution feeder characteristics, load types, and project size. The Energy Commission has contracted with Navigant Consulting to conduct the analysis, and has partnered with Southern California Edison (SCE) to use their system for the study. Preliminary study results and recommendations will be presented for discussion by stakeholders. The Workshop will be held Aug 22, 9:00 a.m., in the Commission's Hearing Room A. Due to a variety of reasons, the DG market does not align with the preferred policy definition of being interconnected on-site or close to load, that can be constructed quickly with no new transmission lines, and, typically, with no environmental impact, and utilities are receiving interconnection requests for projects in locations that cause significant system costs and impacts. This issue was illustrated in a study conducted by SCE that shows the majority of interconnection requests they receive do not satisfy the preferred policy definition. SCE’s study proposes that utility system costs and impacts can be mitigated by guiding projects to areas of the system better equipped to accommodate DG resources. The Energy Commission, in response to SCE’s study, is using the state’s localized energy goal as the back-drop for an analysis that is evaluating the costs and impacts of increased penetration levels of localized energy on the utility electricity system. The purpose of the analysis is to gain a better understanding of utility system costs and impacts associated with increased DG installations in California, and how those costs and impacts change based on interconnection location, distribution feeder characteristics, load types, and project size. Results of the analysis will be presented as a 2020 forecast of the costs and impacts of SCE achieving its fair share of the Governor’s 12,000 MW localized renewable energy goal, and a methodology and framework that can be utilized by other California utilities to conduct similar analysis. Additionally, based on the results of this study, Energy Commission staff will author a white paper that explores potential regulatory and technical solutions to mitigate costs and impacts.

Over 11K Stories!

| Independently Powered Energy News

Distributed Generation

dgrandyadmin

Related Posts

A Guide to Finding the Most reputable UK Online Casinos

Using Free Casino Video Slots To Enhance Your Odds Of Winning

Record fines expose power market flaws