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...

Environmentalists Oppose Proposed Gas Plants Environmental groups are appealing the Public Utilities Commission’s approval of a 558-MW natural gas-fired power plant in the seaside town of Carlsbad on the grounds that power could be supplied more cleanly and cheaply by renewable resources. A state appellate court will soon decide whether to...

CO2 Emissions down as Coal Plants Used Less The state is already meeting the carbon dioxide emissions target under the final year of EPA’s Clean Power Plan, thanks to reduced use of coal-fired power generation because of the low price of competing natural gas. The state’s carbon emissions were 30.1...

By Robert Mullin SANTA MONICA, Calif. — California’s second-largest publicly owned utility is “not buying anything other than solar right now,” said Arlen Orchard, CEO of Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Left to right: Orchard, Fillinger. © RTO Insider Orchard’s comment reflected prevailing opinion at the Infocast California Energy Summit...

By Robert Mullin SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Dawn Wilson, director of environmental policy and affairs at Southern California Edison, said the company was disappointed with the Supreme Court’s stay of EPA’s Clean Power Plan in February. Williams © RTO Insider “We are specifically engaged with a coalition of energy sector...

By Robert Mullin SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Ed Randolph, energy division director at the California Public Utilities Commission, does not care if his state meets its 50% renewable mandate by 2030. Randolph © RTO Insider That statement, delivered at the Infocast California Energy Summit last week, came with an important...

By Robert Mullin A FERC judge ruled last week that Shell Energy North America and Iberdrola Renewables saddled California consumers with $1.1 billion in excess energy costs at the height of the Western Energy Crisis. The initial decision by Administrative Law Judge Steven Glazer said the Mobile-Sierra presumption of “justness...

CAISO Warns of Possible Summer Blackouts Because of Aliso Canyon The inactive Southern California Gas Aliso Canyon underground gas storage facility this summer could cause energy shortages and imperil electric reliability, according to CAISO and other agencies. The storage facility, which was shut down after leaking 100,000 metric tons of...

By Robert Mullin CAISO has asked FERC to approve a new Tariff provision that would enable rooftop solar and other small distributed energy resources (DER) to participate in California’s energy and ancillary services markets (ER16-1085). The rule changes create an “initial framework” to extend market participation to DER smaller than...