Edison Angles for Regional Renewables Credits

Claiming that there's a limited supply of in-state renewable energy, a Southern California Edison representative asked legislators to consider a regionwide credit system that utilities could tap into to meet their mandated renewables portfolio standard. In a March 26 hearing before the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee, Stuart Hemphill, Edison director of renewable and alternative power, said that the utility expects a 15 percent increase in customer demand for electricity while working to meet its 20 percent renewable supply requirement. If Edison could use out-of-state wind, geothermal, and solar power to count toward that mandate, the utility would have an easier time satisfying the renewables law, he told legislators. Imported renewables are anathema to environmentalists, however. They believe that the renewables portfolio standard law aims to replace fossil-fuel-fired electricity on a local level - creating a lower carbon footprint as well as encouraging jobs and economic growth in California. It would create more jobs if utilities got back into the business of investing in and owning renewable energy plants, as they used to do with traditional power plants, said Marc Joseph, an attorney representing the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Joseph said that there are not enough renewables projects from private developers in the state, with or without utility contracts. The California Energy Commission also hinted at support for utilities owning and operating renewables projects. The Energy Commission supports recovering "prudent costs" as in the old model of utility investments in traditional generation instead of supplemental payments for renewable power under the current regulatory framework. The California Public Utilities Commission is reworking its "market price referent" that sets a standard price for renewable power - allowing projects that are more expensive than the medium-priced project to be eligible for subsidies. The current benchmark price is based on outdated natural gas prices, critics contend (Circuit, March 16, 2007).

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Edison Angles for Regional Renewables Credits

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