| Independently Powered Energy News

By Jan Smutny-Jones Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed three ambitious clean energy goals within the next 15 years. They are increasing from one-third to 50 percent our electricity derived from renewable resources; reducing today’s petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent; and doubling the efficiency of existing buildings and making heating fuels cleaner. Reaching these new policy goals will require timely, coordinated action among a number of state agencies and private entities, some of which historically have not been involved in energy planning and infrastructure development. They include the California Air Resources Board, the California Public Utilities Commission, Energy Commission, Independent System Operator, Department of Water Resources and State Water Resources Control Board. The challenge will be to identify opportunities and implement policies encouraging cross-sector actions and investments across the California economy that will actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, challenges that require innovative solutions also provide unique opportunities. That includes using renewable energy to expand constrained water supplies, including using excess solar and wind power to run desalination plants. Many of the new resources needed to meet the 50 percent renewables goal will be wind and solar, which are “intermittent” in nature, i.e., they generate power subject to the availability of the wind and sun. On the other hand, these resources have many advantages: zero greenhouse gas emissions and near zero marginal production costs. Some parties have raised concerns regarding “over-generation” from too much solar energy production occurring during certain hours of the day at various times of the year. However, rather than being a problem, this clean low-cost energy production may be a practical solution fostering not only a vibrant California energy economy, but powering the growth of other sectors of the economy while meeting the state’s low carbon energy goals. For example, clean electric generation offers a significant opportunity to help achieve the governor’s goal of reducing petroleum use in cars and trucks by 50 percent. Currently, the transportation sector constitutes 38 percent of California’s carbon foot-print and represents a significant emissions reduction challenge. On the other hand, California’s electric sector constitutes only 20 percent of California’s carbon footprint. Moreover, while in-state generation meets 70 percent of California’s electric generation needs, in-state generation represents only 9 percent of the state’s total carbon emissions. The remaining 30 percent of California’s electrical demand is met through imports that represent 11 percent of the total carbon footprint. The 50 percent renewable initiative presents not only an opportunity to power the production of clean alternative fuels to meet the transportation sector goals, either through the direct charging of electric vehicles or the powering of hydrogen fuel production. This clean electric generation also could be a potential source of power to develop new, local water resources. Similarly, while climate change and the related drought are bringing uncertainty to California’s water supply as our population continues to grow, clean, low-cost renewable energy should be considered as a critical power source for expanding California’s water supply infrastructure. For example, strategically sited desalination facilities could produce a new source of water at a local level, while potentially freeing up existing water for other uses. Electricity is one of the key operational costs related to a desalination plant. During periods of over-generation, the real time price of energy is zero, or even negative. The power requirements of the desalination units could act as a sponge absorbing this low/zero cost energy, using clean, low-cost power to operate the California desalination unit. A preliminary analysis suggests that 15 desalination plants would absorb over 30 percent of the over-generation forecast to occur by 2030 under the 50 percent renewable requirement. Moreover, these plants would supply an additional amount of water to meet either 12 percent of the state’s current public water demand; 3 percent of current irrigation needs; or 37 percent of the current deliveries from the state water project. Repurposing clean energy into other sectors of the California economy will allow for economic expansion while displacing direct petroleum use and creating new sources of local water. Certainly other energy intense California industries also may benefit from this mid-day low-cost energy if given the opportunity. The Energy Principals Group has done a tremendous job in addressing a number of critical public policy challenges, including: greenhouse gas reduction, implementation of the Renewable Portfolio Standard, the closure of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and the retirement of once-through cooling generation, while ensuring overall electric grid reliability. We urge the appropriate water agencies and Energy Principles Group to move quickly and place on their respective agendas consideration of the potential beneficial nexus between water and power created by the governor’s initiatives and the risk of prolonged drought. Specifically, we recommend the agencies do the following: Convene a workshop soon to discuss ideas for how best to align the water and power infrastructure needs of tomorrow and how best to achieve these outcomes in a timely and cost-effective manner. Integrate in long-term planning today the clear beneficial nexus between water and power needs of the future. Integrate into long-term planning the benefits of using clean California electrical generation in the transportation sector to support direct electric charging and the production of hydrogen fuel. The Independent Energy Producers looks forward to working with the state agencies in meeting these goals through integrated planning and near-term infrastructure investment. — Jan Smutny-Jones is IEP’s CEO

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