California Regulatory Intelligence
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4 min read solar and storage

MID-WEEK NEWS CODEX: Ethanol; CAISO Year in Review; Affordability

  • BayWA r.e. Secures $416 Million for San Diego Solar and Storage Project: "BayWa r.e. announced it has closed financing for Jacumba Valley Ranch Energy Park, a project in southeastern San Diego County, California that includes 90 MW of solar and 70 MW / 280 MWh of battery energy storage. The facility, expected to be operational in fall of 2026, is planned to deliver electricity to roughly 57,000 homes through San Diego Community Power." PV MAGAZINE
  • California's Oil and Gasoline Conundrum: "The currently mandated total phaseout of in-state oil production by 2045 is increasingly implausible and irresponsible given these structural realities and the fact that oil and gas provides 8% of California’s GDP. California will still need its oil pipeline and refinery infrastructure well into the latter part of the 21st century to remain a viable economy. Ending all California drilling and oil production by 2045 is increasingly unlikely and impractical. Jets require fuel, roads are made of asphalt, and touch screens use hydrocarbon molecules." CALIFORNIA GLOBE
  • California Now Allows More Ethanol in Gasoline – is This Going to Save Drivers Money? "The outcomes of California’s new E15 law will depend on how CARB chooses to regulate E15 under the new law. If it adds an alternative fuel specification for ethanol, as seems most likely, then I expect the results to be the same as in other states when the EPA allowed summer E15. Few gas stations will offer it and few drivers will buy it. Consumers don’t understand it and may be wary of it; gas stations will be averse to paying for the labeling and new fuel dispensers." ENERGY at HAAS
  • California Regulators Prioritize Keeping Electric Bills Affordable Over Increasing Utility Shareholder Profits: "In the last 12 months, there has been a noticeable downwards shift in utilities’ return on equity nationally. California’s regulators are proposing to follow this downward trend, and the cut to the authorized utility profits (their return on equity) will all be below 10% for the first time in a generation." ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND
  • CPUC Approves "First-Ever" Statewide Energy Efficiency Market Transformation Initiative: "The Decision authorizes CalMTA to immediately implement the Room Heat Pumps MTI, which CalMTA argues is projected to deliver $480 million in benefits to California ratepayers over the initiative’s lifetime. Those benefits include the value of energy savings, greenhouse gas reductions, and increased demand flexibility to help keep the electric grid healthy. The Room Heat Pumps MTI are meant to accelerate market adoption of a 120-Volt (V) plug-in room heat pump air conditioner. This emerging technology provides both heating and cooling for small single-family and multifamily households while avoiding some costly electrical upgrades. A $41 million budget was approved to fund this initiative over the next six years." RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD
  • Forecasting Large Loads in the Age of AI and Data Centers: "...Microsoft’s San Jose data center uses its RNG microgrid to power facility operations when it participates in California’s Base Interruptible Protocol events." E3
  • How California is Failing its Latino Population: "Manufacturing has lost one-third of its jobs in California since 1990, one reason few new electric vehicle plants, semiconductor and other new industrial facilities locate in California. This matters particularly to Latinos, who represent the vast majority of Californians in 'carbon economy' jobs from production workers to material handling and truck driving — all industries in the crosshairs of state climate policy." NEW GEOGRAPHY
  • ISO 2025 Year in Review: "Adding more resources to the grid in 2025 has made the system stronger and improved reliability. The 5,713 MW of additional capacity onboarded this year is enough power to serve about five million homes. Working closely with our partners in state government, the summer of 2025 marked the third in a row that grid operators kept the system balanced during heat waves and wildfires without a single Flex Alert asking consumers to 'flex' when and how they use electricity to balance supply and demand." CAISO
  • Newsom Sparks Rebellion in Bay Area Town: "A small city perched on San Francisco Bay poses a big obstacle to California Governor Gavin Newsom's plans to prevent gasoline price spikes. Valero Energy Corp. plans to shut its refinery in Benicia in April, part of a wave of refinery closures across California as the state shifts away from fossil fuels. Newsom is counting on increased imports to ensure gas prices don’t soar, and his administration is exploring the Valero site — which is connected to a marine port — as a potential storage hub, said Benicia Mayor Steve Young. The idea, however, doesn’t sit well with Young or other leaders in this community of 27,000, which relies on the refinery for jobs and taxes." RIGZONE
  • Report Shows Newsom Prioritizes Beijing Over Bakersfield as California Drifts Toward Full-Blown Energy Crisis: "If you’re a driver in the Golden State, watch out.  California could be months away from what a new analysis from USC and UC Berkeley professors describe as the most severe breakdown of the state’s fuel infrastructure in modern history." ENERGY IN DEPTH
  • Sable Requests Transfer of Las Flores Pipeline Oversight from State Fire Marshall to Federal Regulator: "Sable Offshore Corp. requested that the federal government take regulatory oversight of the pipeline system critical to its restart of oil production in the Santa Ynez Unit. The California Office of the State Fire Marshal currently has oversight of the pipeline. In an 8-K filing on November 26, 2025, Sable stated that it determined that the 122-mile Las Flores Pipeline System, which connects the Santa Ynez Unit to the Pentland Station terminal in Kern County, was an interstate pipeline under the Pipeline Safety Act. The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration would then have regulatory oversight over the pipeline. Sable did not state its reasoning for its determination." CALIFORNIA ENERGY JOURNAL
  • The High Cost of Electricity in California: "In 2019, the bundled system average rate for all three large investor-owned utilities was 19.8 cents per kWh. In 2023, it was 30.8 cents per kWh, an increase of 55 percent—outpacing the 38 percent increase in the total revenue requirement during this same period. Moreover, the revenue requirement for 2025 is projected to be between five and nine percent higher than 2024 according to the CPUC, meaning bills will continue to rise barring a significant change in rates policy." LITTLE HOOVER COMMISSION

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