California is moving quickly to adopt microgrids to store wind and solar energy and to provide electricity during public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) in wildfire season, but long-term energy storage and resilience remain problems, panelists said last week at a California Energy Commission workshop on "Assessing the Future Role for...

California Public Utilities Commission members on Thursday called FERC’s proposal to double its transmission incentive adder and make the bonuses easier to get "disgusting," "appalling" and enough to make "one’s blood boil." The commissioners made their comments before voting unanimously to authorize CPUC lawyers to file comments with FERC opposing...

The California Public Utilities Commission adopted measures Thursday to prepare for this year’s fire season by accelerating the deployment of microgrids and approving the wildfire prevention plans of investor-owned utilities. The commissioners also approved a controversial proposal to ensure the state’s community choice aggregators meet resource adequacy requirements through a...

The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved Pacific Gas and Electric’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan Thursday but warned it will now have regulatory mechanisms to end the utility’s century-old electric monopoly should it fail to ensure public safety. Part of the proposed decision approved by the CPUC provides for a...

The California Public Utilities Commission unexpectedly postponed its planned vote Thursday on Pacific Gas and Electric’s bankruptcy reorganization plan because a party to the proceedings improperly sent out a mass email earlier in the week. "This proposed decision is being held because a party sent an ex parte communication by...

The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved a settlement Thursday with Pacific Gas and Electric that imposes record penalties of more than $1.9 billion on the bankrupt utility for safety and maintenance lapses that led to massive wildfires in 2017 and 2018. But the unusual structure of the agreement left...

California renewable energy prices fell to record lows in 2019, driven by the proliferation and falling costs of wind and solar power, the Public Utilities Commission said Monday in its annual report to the State Legislature. Renewable portfolio standard contract prices dropped to 2.82 cents/kWh in 2019, compared with 3.81...

The California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed decision last week that would speed the interconnection of microgrids to utility distribution systems in anticipation of the state’s upcoming fire season and the public safety power shutoffs (PSPSs) that will likely accompany it. The proposal, issued April 28, would order utilities...

PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson announced Wednesday he would retire at the end of June, by which time the utility is hoping to exit bankruptcy. The news came after most of the major obstacles to PG&E’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan appeared to have fallen by the wayside. The only significant...

By Hudson Sangree The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved Southern California Edison’s ambitious plan to install nearly 600 miles of covered conductor to prevent its higher-voltage distribution lines from starting wildfires. The move comes after devastating utility-sparked fires swept Northern and Southern California in 2017 and 2018, causing...