California

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Govs. Speak Against Artificial Island Cost Allocation Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell stepped up their complaints that the cost allocation for New Jersey’s Artificial Island nuclear project disproportionately affects customers in their states. The two held a news conference at a waterfront restaurant on their states’ border,...

By Robert Mullin CAISO’s regulation costs have quadrupled since the ISO increased requirements to help balance variable output from renewable resources. Daily payments to regulation service providers jumped from about $100,000 to more than $400,000 after CAISO increased the requirements in late February, according to a report from the ISO’s...

Study Shows Snowpack Deficit Could Last 3 Years Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, depleted after four years of drought, will likely remain in deficit until 2019, according to a University of California, Los Angeles study. The research debunks the notion that the recent El Niño, which increased snowpack levels to...

By Robert Mullin CAISO last week stepped up efforts to convert skeptics of a Western RTO, convening a forum in Denver to discuss a proposed set of governing principles and dispel concerns that California interests would dominate a West-wide entity. “What we’re doing actually matters, and it has enormous upsides,”...

By Robert Mullin Pacific Gas and Electric said Tuesday it will shut down California’s last nuclear power plant in 2025 under an agreement reached with a coalition of environmental, labor and anti-nuclear groups. The utility said it will develop a portfolio of renewable resources, energy efficiency and energy storage to...

By Robert Mullin Concerned that large numbers of gas-fired generators will retire early because of competition from lower-cost renewables, CAISO last week proposed a study to identify the most vulnerable units in its balancing area. The initiative to gauge the risk of “economically driven” retirements is a result of California’s...

Weak Auction Prompts Cap-and-Trade Concerns The state’s cap-and-trade system faces an uncertain future after just 11% of available carbon allowances were sold during last month’s quarterly auction, generating only 2% of expected revenues. Some analysts attribute the surplus of allowances to other state programs that effectively limit utilities’ emissions and...

Del Mar Releases Climate Action Plan Del Mar became the second city in San Diego County — after San Diego — to announce an objective of moving to 100% renewable energy by 2035. That goal is part of a larger climate action plan to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. The...

CO2 Allowance Sale Raises $68.3 Million The nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states that participated in the 32nd Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction of carbon dioxide allowances on Wednesday sold more than 15 million at a clearing price of $4.53. Bids for an allowance, which allows for the emission of one...

By Robert Mullin FERC on Wednesday approved CAISO’s plan to temporarily alter its market rules and operations in response to natural gas pipeline restrictions stemming from the closure of the Aliso Canyon storage facility (ER16-1649). The grid operator last month sought expedited approval for the Tariff changes, designed to ensure...