As California’s wildfire season approaches, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) faces regulatory delays of up to two years for 100 MW of proposed storage-backed microgrids that aim to provide resiliency, especially to protect essential community services. “As a utility company, our mandate and charge is to provide safe and reliable … [Read more...]
“Stale” Time-of-Use Rates May Undercut Benefits of Energy Storage in California
February 2, 2018 By
California's grid operator is considering a load shift product that could beat "stale" time-of-use rates in its ability to avoid greenhouse gases and generate income for energy storage system owners and operators. The problem, for storage system owners, is time-of-use rates are getting “stale,” and don’t represent what mix of fuels are producing … [Read more...]
California’s Grid Operator Looks at How to Absorb Excess Solar Energy with Storage
October 6, 2017 By
A first-of-a-kind load shedding proposal from California's grid operator aims to absorb excess solar energy with storage to help solve some challenging economic and environmental problems. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is now developing the idea, which would allow more solar energy to make it to the grid in the middle of a … [Read more...]
What Does the Extension of California’s Cap-and-Trade Mean for Microgrid Development?
July 21, 2017 By
California lawmakers voted this week to extend the state's cap-and-trade program to 2030, a move expected to boost microgrid development, especially when coupled with other climate plays. Backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the legislation won passage by a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and the Senate. By itself the extension isn't expected to yield … [Read more...]
Turning Distributed Energy Resources into Grid Market Players in California
July 1, 2015 By
California is looking at a plan (DERP) to turn distributed energy resources into grid market players. What will this mean to microgrid developers? Is this a better approach to creating a distributed grid than New York state's REV? Alex Morris, director, policy and regulatory affairs for the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA) answers these … [Read more...]
