Low-Carbon Grid

CEERT’s Low-Carbon Grid Program promotes the integration of large amounts of renewable energy on the grid by tracking and intervening in crucial proceedings at the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and other agencies. We also seek to foster joint operating agreements between the CAISO and the state’s municipal and investor-owned utilities, and promote coordination and consolidation of the Balancing Areas in our state and region as a low-cost means of integrating renewable power. The issues are often highly technical, but have enormous impact on the price of renewable energy projects and their access to the transmission and distribution system.

Recent Developments:

Western Grid Integration

CEERT continues to participate in biweekly Western Grid Group (WGG) and Western Clean Energy Advocates (WCEA) meetings on Regional Markets and Resource Adequacy (RA). These groups are active on clean energy issues in other Western states, and keep CEERT up to date on current market developments across the region. CEERT continues to monitor activities in CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) initiative, in addition to the on-going effects of California’s Summer 2020 Outages on import and export dynamics.

The WCEA RA Working Group allows CEERT to stay current on RA issues across the West and advocate for RA structures that will reflect the suite of benefits clean energy resources bring to the grid. Carleigh Osen, CEERT’s Policy Coordinator, is co-facilitator of the WCEA RA Working Group, which meets monthly.

 

Discussions with the Governor’s Office

In light of California’s rolling blackouts last summer and the Governor’s duty to appoint key agency leadership at the beginning of the year, CEERT joined 10 clean energy, environmental, and industry groups in a letter to Governor Newsom calling for urgent action to provide reliable electricity service and restore California’s leadership on climate and clean energy.

The group recommended four immediate actions to cure the electricity shortfall, mitigate the impacts of climate change, uplift vulnerable communities, and stimulate the economy:

  1. appoint strong, knowledgeable, and independent leaders at the CPUC, CEC, and CAISO who understand that climate policy will be more effective when it puts frontline communities first;
  2. ensure adoption of lower GHG targets in the CPUC’s IRP process and CARB’s inclusion of updated electricity sector GHG targets to account for SB 100 and electrification of other sectors;
  3. direct the agencies to work with CAISO, load-serving entities, and transmission owners to expedite interconnection of renewable energy and storage resources; and
  4. require the CPUC to procure sufficient clean energy and storage capacity to replace Diablo Canyon.