California Can't Get Out of its Own Way on Geothermal: "The state has enormous untapped potential — and a growing need for electricity. California has shut down all but one of its nuclear power plants over the past few decades. In recent years, persistent drought has made the state’s hydroelectric stations less dependable. Solar generation has soared, and a growing fleet of batteries has helped steady the supply when sun-soaked days threaten to overwhelm the grid with electrons and dark nights send panels’ production plummeting. But the state remains reliant on natural gas and power imports from neighboring states to meet surging demand. To achieve its carbon-cutting goals and bring down electricity rates that are more than double that of nearby states, California needs to increase its supply of clean, firm generation." CANARY MEDIA
FERC Staff Issues Whitepaper on Seams Coordination in the Western Interconnection: "...key issues we recommend the parties address in seams coordination include: (1) modeling of transmission availability and use in the West; (2) coordination to maintain reliability and manage congestion; and (3) coordination to enhance the economic benefits of transactions across regions. We understand that these are difficult issues that will require time to address." FERC NEWS
How EVs Can Fix the Grid and Lower Your Electric Bill: "The Natural Resources Defense Council has estimated that if California V2G’ed all of the 14 million EVs it’s expected to have by 2035, it could power every home in the state for three days." GRIST
Interview with Energy Economist Ahmad Faruqui – Debunking the Solar "Cost-Shift" Myth: "When you have goals, ambitious goals, which are laudable, which California does have — the goals have been very aggressive; by 2045, they want 100% renewable and carbon-free — that is something to aspire to, and it is good to have that North Star. However, if you lose the roadmap on how to get there and you start doing things that are counterintuitive and counterproductive, then you’re going to create problems. And that’s what has happened." LAKIS POLYCARPOU
Lines for Gas Coming to California: "As in-state production of crude collapses, the intake capacity of seaport facilities will have to be increased to accommodate more tankers, requiring a major infrastructure investment. And as refinery capacity drops below in-state demand for gasoline and diesel fuel, it will be necessary to import refined gasoline. This not only would require different facilities to receive, store, and distribute imported gasoline instead of crude oil, it would also have to be gasoline refined to California’s very exacting and unique formulations." CALIFORNIA GLOBE
Santa Barbara Denies Permit Transfer to Sable in Preliminary Vote: "The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to deny the transfer of operating permits from ExxonMobil to Sable Offshore Corp. that cover the Santa Ynez Unit, a gas plant, and the Las Flores Pipelines. The Supervisors voted 4-1 to prepare written findings to support the decision and will have a final vote on December 16, 2025. The transfer of permits is a key step in restarting the Santa Ynez Unit, which has been shut since the 2015 Refugio oil spill." CALIFORNIA ENERGY JOURNAL
SCE's $28B Spending Plan Centers on Wildfires, Reliability: "SCE President and CEO Steven Powell noted that the utility hasn’t seen the same level of demand from data centers as other utilities, but pitched SCE’s more moderate load growth as a potential boon to investors. He expects sales to grow 1% to 3% a year over the next four years, driven primarily by strong electric vehicle adoption, residential growth and increased demand from commercial sectors such as manufacturing, logistics and defense." UTILITY DIVE
You might also like...
28
Nov
WEEKEND NEWS CODEX: Solar Interconnection Delays; BTM Thermal Energy Storage; Rising Electricity Prices
3 min read
25
Nov
December 4, 2025 CPUC Voting Meeting Preview
10 min read
19
Nov
WEDNESDAY AGGREGATE: Wildfires; Cost of Capital; SoCalGas Microgrid Optional Tariff
5 min read
17
Nov
MONDAY AGGREGATE: Cost of Capital; Affordability; Senate Bill 1221
9 min read
10
Nov
MONDAY AGGREGATE: SoCalGas CAP Rates; IOU Distribution Planning; the Future of CA's "Base Services Charge"
