MID-WEEK NEWS CODEX: Microgrids in Napa; the CAISO's Genie; Speed to Power
An Aviation Fuel Crisis May be Coming to California: "California’s declining oil production and refinery closures, caused by the state’s energy policies, could create an 'aviation fuel crisis.' An increasing dependence on imported aviation fuel could threaten national security. Several U.S. military installations, including Travis Air Force Base and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, rely almost entirely on California refineries for their jet fuel. According to the Energy Information Administration, California ranks first in jet fuel demand among the states." INSTITUTE for ENERGY RESEARCH
A Tale of Four Microgrids – On-Site Energy Decisions Making Sense Across Sectors: "Napa Valley champagne and wine producer Domaine Carneros...installed solar panels some years ago but wanted to unite all its distributed energy resources into a controlled solar-storage and backup microgrid which can deliver energy resiliency in a region known for weather events and utility-enforced public safety power shutoffs. 'We’re close to the end of the grid,” [CEO Remi] Cohen pointed out. 'Energy resiliency means allowing continuous operations even during extended outages on the grid. We knew (installing the microgrid) would get us closer to energy independence.'" MICROGRID KNOWLEDGE
California Sees Sustained Decline in Natural Gas Use as Solar Output Rises: "Natural gas generation consistently decreases during the midday hours between noon and 5:00 p.m. when solar generation peaks. In May and June, solar generation within those hours increased from 10.2 GW in 2020 to 18.8 GW in 2025." CANARY MEDIA(additional coverage inPV MAGAZINE, UTILITY DIVE)
Data Centers are Breaking the Old Grid – Let AI Build the New One: "In California, Pacific Gas & Electric has turned to AI to blunt one of the state’s greatest threats: fire. The utility now uses AI to monitor fire conditions and provide automated notifications, improving response times, it says. The utility’s combined efforts have brought reportable ignitions down 65% compared to the 2018-2020 average.For towns that have lived through evacuations and blackened skies, that drop means fewer late-night sirens and fewer lives uprooted. The state’s grid operator, the California Independent System Operator, is also experimenting with a generative AI system known as Genie." UTILITY DIVE
Federal Mandates Are Quietly Driving Prices Up: "...demand isn’t the problem. Policy friction is." GRID BRIEF
How Green is Gavin? "The chart below shows how electricity prices in California compare to the national average since Newsome became governor. Today, California residential electricity rates are 86% above the national average." ENVIRONMENTAL
Interior Offshore Oil Drilling Plan Includes Six Potential California Lease Areas: "Of the six California areas, three are off the coast of southern California starting in 2027, two along the central coast starting in 2027, and one off the coast of northern California starting in 2029." CALIFORNIA ENERGY JOURNAL
Recology Drives Ahead with Fleet Transition Despite Deregulation: "Recology is seeing increased uncertainty in the zero-emission vehicle market in the wake of regulatory rollbacks affecting heavy-duty fleets. But the hauler, among California’s largest, is still plotting a full transition. Last month, Recology completed a fleet transition plan with the nonprofit Center for Transportation and the Environment after winning a competitive grant process backed by the C.H. Robinson Foundation, a philanthropic fund tied to the logistics and supply chain company of the same name." WASTE DIVE
Speed to Power and the Department of Energy's Grid Proposal to FERC: "Key to [Consumer Regulated Electricity, "CRE"] is that it is off-grid, meaning it is not physically connected to the electricity grid that we all use daily. By being off-grid, there’s no need for state utility regulation. What does this then have to do with the DOE and FERC? By being off-grid, CRE is not part of the bulk power system. Common sense tells us this is true, but common sense doesn’t always shine through in the heavily regulated electricity sector. Therefore, our responses in the two dockets ask DOE and FERC to formally acknowledge that CRE operates outside of FERC jurisdiction, including the mandatory reliability standards created by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and enforced by FERC." THE FISHTANK
What's in FERC's Large Load Interconnection Docket: "Filings from OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, the Data Center Coalition, and the Clean Energy Buyers Association all agree that the current interconnection process is hampering AI growth, and poses an existential threat to U.S. leadership in the sector. But they’re divided on the key question of whether FERC should preempt state-regulated interconnection processes." LATITUDE MEDIA
What's the Deal with Balcony Solar? " If you have a net metering agreement, then you can attach one of these and have it fall under that same net metering agreement, whether it’s NEM1, NEM2, NEM3, under a certain threshold. In California that’s 1 kilowatt. You can buy right now...a system that’s up to 1 kilowatt and plug it in, and it will be considered part of your net metering expansion...You do not need a new interconnection agreement." VOLTS
