California's Costly, Energy-Islanding Regulation – Why Big Oil Wants to Keep It: "If gasoline sellers in California had access to an abundant, affordable supply, the state would be more resilient, and consumers would pay less." UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
California's Emissions Authority is Cracking: "Without the power to set its own emissions standards, California’s ambitious climate goals will realistically be out of reach. That also means California can’t meet air quality standards for pollutants like nitrogen oxides — a main component of smog — required under federal law, and could face penalties." POLITICO
California's Neglected Infrastructure is Harming America: "Abundance, California style, is a fraud. And it’s not just punishing California’s people and industry. In an appearance on News Nation last week, sparsely populated Wyoming’s lone member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Harriet Hageman, took California to task for what she correctly identified as negligent water policies. As an attorney who worked on interstate water agreements in the Western United States prior to entering politics, Hageman knows what she’s talking about. 'California has failed its people, and it has failed the interior West in terms of its refusal to actually develop water for its citizens,' she said. 'California has essentially the same water infrastructure in place today, with 40 million people, that they had in the 1960s with 16 million people.'" MAVEN'S NOTEBOOK
California's Storage Trade Association Says Containerized Batteries are Safer Than Building-Based Designs: "Four. That is the number of cases Scott Murtishaw, executive director of the California Energy Storage Alliance, said he could find in which fire spread from one battery container to a second, across more than 1,000 utility-scale containerized projects worldwide. In none of them, he said, did fire reach a third container. Murtishaw made the claim in an August 24 interview with Energy-Storage.News, in which he described containerized battery energy storage designs as significantly safer than indoor, building-based configurations. He named safety concerns and local opposition as the industry’s single largest barrier. He also set out the scale California has reached: a storage fleet of roughly 21,000 MW, against under 1,000 MW before 2020, and no Flex Alerts since capacity passed 4,000 MW in 2022." ENERGY STORAGE WIRE
California County Locks in 20 Years of Cheaper Power with 7.7-MW System: "The project will cover six parking lots at the Ventura County Government Center and generate nearly 9 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity annually." INTERESTING ENGINEERING
California Passes Bill Allowing Customer-Owned Clean Energy to Compete with Traditional Power Sources for Grid Reliability: "State Senate Bill 913 directs utility regulators to update Resource Adequacy rules, expanding Virtual Power Plant access to residential batteries, bi-directional electric vehicle charging, and smart home tech." PV MAGAZINE
California Senate Passes Bill to Boost Biomass Power Generation: "The California Senate on Aug. 26 unanimously voted to pass the Forest Organic Residue, Energy and Safety Transformation (FOREST) and Wildfire Prevention Act, which authorizes the establishment of a new program to maintain and expand biomass power generation within the state." BIOMASS MAGAZINE
Newsom's Climate Whisperer Gets Some Political Cover: "Lauren Sanchez cleared a major political hurdle on Tuesday, winning approval from the Senate Rules Committee for her appointment as California Air Resources Board chair after a confirmation hearing that doubled as a referendum on California’s shifting climate strategy." POLITICO
PacifiCorp to Suspend California Energy Efficiency Programs Under Proposed Settlement: "The programs have 'historically not provided cost-effectiveness benefits to ratepayers and, indeed, show a decline in performance in recent years,' said the state public advocates office." UTILITY DIVE
PG&E's Flexible Interconnection Program Has Seven Sites Operating After Two Years: "Seven projects are operating under PG&E’s Flex Connect program two years after launch, and two of them have since converted to firm interconnections because the distribution upgrades they were waiting on caught up, Latitude Media reported. The first flexible data center site, 5 MW in the Bay Area, is scheduled for this fall." ENERGY STORAGE WIRE
The Limits of Newsom's Abundance: "Gov. Gavin Newsom is finding a limit to his efforts to waive some environmental rules in order to build big. On Tuesday night, the Solano County Board of Supervisors voted not to endorse legislation that the governor’s team had helped negotiate to facilitate developer California Forever’s shipbuilding operations in the county, vastly dimming the legislation’s chances of advancing this year. The controversial developer, led by founder and CEO Jan Sramek and backed by tech luminaries, has spent years attempting to convince the county to let them build a dense new city in the hayfields southwest of Sacramento, and solve what they argue are entrenched housing and economic challenges." POLITICO
We Make Cheap Clean Power – Why Do Our Factories Pay So Much For It? "High demand charges layered with other fixed charges apply to every kilowatt used, no matter when, so a factory running on cheap midday solar pays the same as one running during expensive peak hours. There’s no reward for using power when it actually helps the grid. SB 943 fixes this disconnect by ensuring manufacturers pay for electricity in a way that better reflects when they use it, rather than discouraging electrification. The bill authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to cap add-on electricity charges for manufacturers switching equipment off gas. That way, companies investing in clean industrial equipment can actually benefit from California’s low-cost clean energy. It also directs the CPUC to recommend transmission pricing reforms to the state’s grid operator, aligning costs with grid strain and rewarding factories for shifting usage to cheaper, cleaner off-peak hours." CAPITOL WEEKLY
Who Should Pay for Utility-Ignited Wildfires? "California’s liability framework is stricter than in other states. Elsewhere, wildfire plaintiffs generally have to prove that a utility was negligent to recover damages. In California, a doctrine called 'inverse condemnation' allows property owners to recover property damages and legal fees whether or not the utility is found negligent. Whether the utility absorbs those costs or passes them to their customers is decided separately, by regulators." ENERGY AT HAAS
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