Tag Archive for: Energy

Offshore Wind, Solar Along San Diego Highways and More: Some Key Energy Bills Heading to Newsom’s Desk

Gavin Newsom better have a big desk.

Of more than 2,600 bills introduced in the legislative session that wrapped up late last week, about 840 managed to navigate their way through the Assembly and Senate. The bills that survived the legislative gauntlet now await their respective fates at the hand of the governor, who has an Oct. 13 deadline to sign them into law or veto them.

Here’s a look at some of the noteworthy energy bills Newsom will consider:

A late provision by outgoing Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, included a proposed pumped hydroelectric storage project at San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside to the list of potential projects that AB 1373 helps facilitate.

If constructed, the San Vicente project will pump water from the existing reservoir to a smaller reservoir (still to be constructed) and then generate emissions-free electricity by sending the water back downhill.

CAISO Adopts Energy Storage, Imbalance Market Rules to Improve Grid Reliability

The California Independent System Operator has approved three reliability improvements for storage management that are set to take effect this summer when extreme heat could cause a spike in demand.

California Funds 60 MWh Tribal Long-Duration Storage Project With Nation’s Largest Vanadium Redox Flow Battery

The California Energy Commission has issued a $31 million grant to build a 60 MWh long-duration energy storage system that is expected to provide backup power to the Viejas Tribe of Kumeyaay Indians and bolster the reliability of the energy system statewide.

San Diego County Aims to Provide More Homes with Power by Storing Energy in reservoir

Neena Kuzmich, Deputy Director of Engineering at San Diego County Water Authority, with more on the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project.

 

San Diego County aims to provide more homes with power by storing energy in reservoir

 

 

CAISO Calls For Near-Term Power Procurement, Even With Possible Diablo Canyon Extension

The California Public Utilities Commission should reject calls to delay adding new power supplies in the state even though the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s impending retirement may be put on hold, according to the California Independent System Operator.

CAISO also supports a recommendation from the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office that the commission authorize immediate procurements to address system needs from 2026 through 2030, the grid operator said in comments it filed at the commission on Thursday.

Tiny Oregon Town Hosts 1st Wind-Solar-Battery ‘Hybrid’ Plant

A renewable energy plant being commissioned in Oregon on Wednesday that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there is the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America.

The project, which will generate enough electricity to power a small city at maximum output, addresses a key challenge facing the utility industry as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels and increasingly turns to solar and wind farms for power. Wind and solar are clean sources of power, but utilities have been forced to fill in gaps when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining with fossil fuels like coal or natural gas.

California Drought Raises Red Flags for Agriculture

More than 97 percent of California is under at least “severe” drought conditions, raising the specter of difficult agricultural decisions in a state that produces a quarter of U.S. food.

Carlsbad Desalination Plant Cuts Energy Demand to Help Avoid Blackouts

Poseidon Resources (Channelside) LP and the San Diego County Water Authority are temporarily reducing water production at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant to support statewide emergency energy conservation efforts during the extreme heat wave.

California’s Grid Holds Up Another Night and Avoids Rolling Blackouts Here

California came within a hair’s breadth of experiencing rolling blackouts Tuesday night, but the system operator that manages the grid for about 80% of the Golden State continued to keep the lights on.

The California Independent System Operator at 5:17 p.m. issued a stage 3 Energy Emergency Alert, a measure that warns energy users that rotating outages may be imminent due to sustained electricity demand eating into reserve margins.

FERC’s Glick Says He’s ‘Bullish’ on Energy Storage, Aims to Prioritize Regulations for Hybrid Projects

Amid other regulatory priorities, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick would have the agency look into energy storage participation in wholesale markets via hybrid projects with wind and solar, he said on Tuesday during the CLEANPOWER 2022 conference in San Antonio, Texas.