Oct. 29 CPUC Voting Meeting Results: IOUs Ordered to Build Joint DER Plan; $608M DR Bridge Approved
October is closing with a flurry of new activity at the CPUC. CRI has you covered.
At its Oct. 29 voting meeting, the CPUC advanced a new approach to coordinating distributed energy resources, directing PG&E, SCE and SDG&E to develop a common DER orchestration proposal that could reduce future distribution infrastructure costs. Utility studies cited during the meeting estimated billions of dollars in potential savings through 2040. Commissioners also addressed concerns about utility investment incentives, competitive neutrality and whether the proposal would deliver measurable ratepayer savings.
The CPUC also backed away from a proposed 40% disallowance of SoCalGas' remaining pipeline safety revenue requirement, instead imposing $62.8 million in disallowances against underlying expenditures associated with its Transmission Integrity Management Program. The 5-0 vote prompted a discussion among commissioners about the evidentiary standards utilities must meet to recover costs incurred years earlier.
The Commission approved approximately $608 million in demand response funding for 2028 and 2029, preserving virtual power plant and electric-vehicle aggregation programs while postponing more extensive reforms.
Other actions included denial of SoCalGas' proposed microgrid tariff, limited exceptions to the CPUC's gas-line extension subsidy ban, new climate-adaptation requirements and a $7.77 million enforcement settlement with SCE.
Specifics are provided below the paywall (we've examined all final, redlined changes and applied them to our summaries).
DELAYED ACTION: The Commission again postponed action on PG&E's proposed agreement to serve a 250-MW Google data center in San Jose, moving the item to Nov. 19. Our Thursday, Oct. 29 briefing examined some reasons for the delay.
Other held items included:
- Competing proposed decisions in the CPUC's biomethane cost-allocation rulemaking;
- Updates to the Database for Energy Efficient Resources;
- $44.6 million in proposed California Energy Commission natural gas research funding; and
- Liberty Utilities' request to recover approximately $58.05 million associated with the 2020 Mountain View Fire.
Additionally, the Commission postponed a PD approving a settlement on SDG&E's remaining Track 3 wildfire mitigation costs and authorizing partial PSEP cost recovery for SDG&E and SoCalGas. The Commission also held a PD addressing PG&E's request for an interim revenue requirement of up to $456 million beginning Jan. 1, 2027, pending completion of its General Rate Case.
Separately, from the dais, Commissioner Matthew Baker held a PD concerning the jurisdictional status of SFPP's connected destination terminals under Public Utilities Code Section 227.
CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: Our Thursday briefing incorrectly suggested that the CPUC might also delay action on a PD that denies a petition by multiple parties to modify language in the SoCalGas/SDG&E 2024 GRC decision (D.24-12-074). That item carried 5-0 as part of the Oct. 29 consent agenda.
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