Regulators Okay Expanded Integrated Resource Planning Process

The California Public Utilities Commission Feb. 9 approved including community energy and independent retail suppliers in its Integrated Resource Planning process.

The unanimous decision requires these energy providers, along with the state’s private utilities, to submit resource plans demonstrating how they’ll do their part to help cut greenhouse gases in California by 42 million metric tons by 2030. That reduction is 50 percent below 2015 emission levels.

“This is really a big deal,” said Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen. It shows that the CPUC “can be flexible and think about how to move to a more holistic greenhouse gas reduction paradigm.”

Mike Picker, CPUC president, said the decision “balances greenhouse reductions, grid reliability and costs.”

Community aggregator representatives called the decision “an attack on the fundamental hallmarks of community choice–decision making authority over procurement. They, however, focused most their opposition during the Thursday meeting on defeating the resolution putting them under the CPUC’s resource adequacy authority.

The Alliance for Retail Energy Markets and the Western Power Trading Forum didn’t object to filing integrated resource plans with the commission. But, they did protest the CPUC’s claimed authority to approve or modify them. They argued unsuccessfully that state regulators lack authority over their contracts, rates, and conditions of service.

The decision is expected to require energy providers to take additional actions over current renewable and efficiency mandates to reach the state’s greenhouse gas protection goal, said Commissioner Liane Randolph, the decision author. But, she added, it shouldn’t create unreasonable costs that could drive some to switch to using other fuels, in particular natural gas.

To meet the decision’s carbon reduction goals, 10,200 MW of new renewables and 2,000 MW of new battery storage resources by 2030 are projected to be needed. That includes 9,000 MW of utility-scale solar, 1,100 MW of in-state wind and 200 MW of geothermal resources.

Randolph noted that this resource decision is the first major step in a hard fought two-year planning process.

It includes protection to disadvantaged communities, including requiring resource plans to address the impact on these communities, as well as requiring a justification for building polluting gas plants in those communities.

The final decision rejected staff’s recommendation to direct early renewables procurement to take advantage of the federal renewable tax credits, although it was estimated to save utilities and others $140 million a year. “There are numerous reasons that we decline to order additional renewables procurement, outside of the RPS requirements,” states the decision.

The covered entities are to file plans this August and subsequently every two years in May

If a community energy provider’s plan is considered deficient, it is unclear what the CPUC remedy would be, said Rechtschaffen.

Next steps include getting a better understanding of the interaction between electrification of transportation, the state’s built environment and reductions of the use of natural gas-fired appliances. It also is to include developing a greenhouse gas account methodology that ensures actual emission reductions occur.

The integrated resource planning process is an umbrella proceeding, superseding the CPUC’s long term procurement process. — Elizabeth McCarthy

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Regulators Okay Expanded Integrated Resource Planning Process

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