| Independently Powered Energy News

The California Public Utilities Commission gave the go-ahead March 18 for Pacific Gas & Electric to activate the community microgrid resiliency program approved last June.

PG&E will start providing early input to communities on their proposed microgrids, advising on the best locations. The utility also will spend up to $3 million upgrading distribution lines, grid hardening or islanding for a community-owned microgrid.

In June 2020, the CPUC directed the investor-owned utilities to help ensure that local, tribal, and other communities set up microgrids to protect them from lost power caused by public safety shutoffs. The utilities role includes accelerating project interconnections.

PG&E's resilience program will “provide the technical tools and some financial resources to local and tribal governments to create and invest in microgrids for critical facilities and vulnerable customers such as fire stations, schools, and nursing homes,” Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma said.

PG&E’s community resilience program will dedicate at least $9 million of $27 million in annual funds to the building of microgrids at critical facilities, including fire departments and community centers, in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. They also will be placed near those with health issues and living in remote areas in high-risk fire zones.

Emergency demand side proposal set for vote

Normally the Commission holds meetings every other week. But it has scheduled an extra business meeting next week. The big-ticket item on the March 25 agenda is the CPUC’s emergency proposal to increase demand-side resources this summer and the following summer to avoid rolling blackouts.

The proposal follows the controversial supply-side emergency proceeding that is focused largely on building more gas-powered generation, along with some additional storage and imports to meet peak demand, especially as the sun sets.

The proposed decision on demand-side power seeks to wring more load reduction from the three investor-owned utility programs. One way is to increase payments to commercial and residential customers who agree to drop load as directed when supplies are constrained. It also would expand the hours of critical peak pricing when higher rates are charged to discourage energy use at times of high power consumption.

In addition, the proposed decision would raise the current planning reserve margin to 17.5% from 15%. That would require PG&E and Southern California Edison to buy at least 450 MW each and San Diego Gas & Electric 100 MW of resources to be available during net peak-as the sun drops off.

It also would set up a five-year pilot program in which participants who produce savings or negawatts when called on, would be paid $1 per kilowatt or $1,000 per MW to reduce their use during emergencies between 4-9 PM for up to five hours. The emergency load reduction pilot would run from May-October, seven days a week. The grid operator will call any grid emergency, but the utilities then decide how to carry out load reductions on their end.

None of these demand-side programs would be a part of the resource adequacy market.

In addition, the pending decision would bolster the statewide conservation savings education program, known as Flex Alert, with a $12 million budget this year and in 2022.

Specific proposals include requiring SCE to expand its critical peak pricing—both its hours and number of days--it can take effect. The high load hours under this program are to run from 4PM to 9PM. Ratepayers on this SCE plan receive low off-peak rates and would now have to shed load on up to 15 days a year, up from the current 12.

PG&E and SDG&E are to extend their critical peak pricing to cover the hours of 4PM- 9PM starting in June 2022.

SCE also is to expand its residential load-shedding program, including turning air conditioning down or off and is authorized to buy 60,000 new load-control devices for new enrollees to curb peak and net peak load. The utility produced impressive savings during the extreme heat last August and September.

SCE was also given the green light to increase by 20% payments made under its commercial and industrial load-shedding program, known as the Base-Interruptible Program.