TUESDAY BRIEFING: CPUC Weighs Higher GHG Targets & Offshore Wind Exit From TPP Base Case

September at the CPUC kicks off with major questions on power-system planning. The Commission is considering higher interim greenhouse-gas targets for transmission planning, dropping offshore wind from the CAISO base case and procuring thousands of megawatts of storage in West Los Angeles as an alternative to transmission.

On the gas side, the Commission is seeking comment on the next phase of Senate Bill 1221, including when neighborhood decarbonization projects are established, how utility shareholder incentives would work and when gas service could be retired.

Also in Tuesday’s briefing:

• PG&E reports a $225 million ERRA overcollection;
• The electric IOUs oppose standardizing reverse-power-flow treatment in Integration Capacity Analysis; and
• A draft resolution would impose new transparency and review requirements on meter-socket-adapter fees.

TUESDAY LINKS

• CAISO Board Lifts Hold on Silicon Valley Transmission Projects: "Two transmission projects in Silicon Valley can move forward to serve large loads and other increasing demand in the area, the CAISO Board of Governors decided. CAISO originally included the projects — the South Bay Reinforcement Project and the 115-kV De Anza substation — in the ISO’s draft 2025-2026 transmission plan." RTO INSIDER
• California Legislature Passes Balcony Solar Bill: "On Wednesday, state lawmakers passed the Plug and Play Solar Act (Senate Bill 868) to legalize balcony solar, a form of DIY clean energy that’s taken off in Germany. The bill, which garnered bipartisan support, now heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. His office declined to say if he’ll sign or veto it within the 30-day deadline; if he does neither, it would still become law and take effect Jan. 1, 2027." CANARY MEDIA
• Diablo Canyon's Fate – California's Nuclear Fight, Grid Reliability, and China's Energy Strategy THE NEMETH REPORT
• Legislature Passes Data-Center Energy Reporting Bill: "The California Legislature passed AB 1577, which would require large data centers to report electricity consumption and other operating information to the California Energy Commission and provide projected energy-demand information when applying for certain local permits." CALIFORNIA ENERGY JOURNAL
• Legislature Passes Virtual Power Plant Reliability Bill: "The California Legislature passed SB 913, which would create new pathways for networks of residential batteries and other customer-owned energy resources to receive compensation for supplying capacity needed to maintain grid reliability." CALIFORNIA ENERGY JOURNAL
• The Utility Nobody's Watching: "PG&E installed a large package of AMI gas meters back in its Smart Meter rollout, 2006 to 2012, they were battery-powered. Now those batteries are failing, and when they die, the meter defaults to a prerecorded reading. Customers have received estimated bills running into the thousands of dollars because of failing meter batteries — one reported case hit $6,000. In response, PG&E has filed a $498 million rate case to replace all those failing modules, the ones customers already paid for once, now pushing fifteen to twenty years old." KILOVAR