Focus
GREENTECH MEDIA - Oct 11 Last Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved an alternative proposal, written by Commissioner Carla Peterman, that makes big changes to the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA). In simple terms, the PCIA is an “exit fee” that community choice aggregators (CCAs), as well as competitive energy providers under the state’s Direct Access program, pay utilities when they take over their customers. The fee is meant to cover utilities’ ongoing costs for legacy investments like power plants, and leave them no better or worse off than they would have been if they hadn’t lost the customers at all. CCA advocates say the decision goes too far in shifting legacy utility costs onto departing customers’ bills. The decision would allow utility-owned power plants built before 2002 to be included in PCIA calculations, as well as remove an existing 10-year cap on the inclusion of post-2002 costs.
PV MAGAZINE - Oct 17 Following on solicitations to procure 330 megawatts of renewable energy in January and 1 gigawatt of new solar in May, yesterday NV Energy announced a second request for proposals (RFP) to procure another 350 megawatts of renewable energy. The new RFP is open to a range of renewable portfolio standard compliant renewables, including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and biogas. Projects need to be at least 20 megawatts in capacity, and distributed generation does not qualify. Additionally the projects must all be built in Nevada and come online by the end of 2023.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING - Oct 15 Through August of this year, large U.S. companies have already procured nearly 4 gigawatts of utility-scale wind and solar capacity — breaking the previous full-year record, set in 2015, by nearly 750 megawatts. According to a new report released by the Wind Solar Alliance, more than 100 U.S. corporate buyers have set a goal of purchasing 60 gigawatts of new U.S. renewable energy capacity by 2025. But the transmission infrastructure pipeline is likely not sufficient to meet corporations’ future low-cost clean energy needs. And as the report highlights, if major renewable energy consumers want to ensure the lowest-cost clean energy is available for their future energy purchases, they need to start participating in the transmission planning processes.
DAILY CALIFORNIAN - Oct 12 The University of California (UC) system was one of five institutions to win the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Direct Project Engagement Award, which recognized the university’s leadership in building on- and off-site sources of renewable energy on all 10 UC campuses. According to a UC spokesperson, the university currently generates enough green power to meet more than 15 percent of its electricity use. Additionally, energy efficiency programs have already saved the UC system $220 million, and the university’s solar farm in Fresno County continues to supply all UC campuses and medical centers with renewable energy sources. In addition to the UC’s carbon neutral promise, the university has also announced plans to use 100 percent clean electricity by 2025 and, after June 2019, eliminate fossil fuels in on-site spaces or for water heating in new buildings.
Projects
POWER ENGINEERING - Oct 12 Peninsula Clean Energy has broken ground on a 200-megawatt solar project in Merced County. The company called it the largest California solar installation being built exclusively for a community choice aggregation agency. The Wright Solar facility is expected to come online in late 2019 and provide electricity for 299,000 customers in San Mateo County. The project is owned by Centaurus Renewable Energy.
SOLAR INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - Oct 11 A newly built solar plant is now providing clean energy to customers signed up for San Diego Gas & Electric’s EcoChoice and EcoShare community solar programs. The new solar project and two more under development will deliver a combined 42.4 megawatts of additional renewable energy to the San Diego region, enough to power about 31,800 homes, according to SDG&E. The Midway Solar III project, owned by Greenbacker Renewable Energy Co., began delivering energy in September. The 20-megawatt solar plant, located in the Imperial Valley, is the first to be built to serve customers enrolled in SDG&E’s EcoChoice program.
RENEWABLES NOW - Oct 17 First Solar has sold the 100-megawatt Willow Springs solar project in Kern County to an affiliate of DE Shaw Renewable Investments for an undisclosed sum. Developed by First Solar, the project is currently under construction and is expected to be completed at the end of 2018. It has a long-term renewable power purchase and sale agreement with Southern California Edison Co.
