Pacific Gas & Electric has voiced concerns about operational reliability in its most recent IRP filed with the California Public Utilities Commission. California has had a lower peak than what they have had in the last few years, but they lack the generating capacity to meet that peak. The IRP process is on a two-year cycle and it begins with the utilities plan to meet the electric sectors greenhouse gas targets by the end of the decade. The CPUC adopted a 46 million metric ton goal and has asked load-serving entities to identify resources required to meet this lower goal. After reading all of this I thought that the words “while maintaining operation reliability” should be incorporated in that goal. I believe that must be a parallel goal of any emission standard adopted by any regulator. California has retired so much fossil fuel generation that they have reached the point where they must stop to realize that dispatchable resources must be part of this plan. Without quick start and quick ramping generation to supplement renewable resources grid reliability issues are inevitable. In 2019 solar overtook wind as the most megawatts of generation installed.
Anyway, enjoy the article and be thankful for the reliability we have experienced in SPP.
Click HERE to access the article!
