One of the biggest obstacles to increasing the use of renewable energy nationwide is transmitting it from the regions where it is available to the urban centers where it is most needed. California is blessed with some of the country’s best wind, solar and geothermal resources, but in many instances these are located far from the electric transmission grid.
To solve this challenge, California has formed a public-private partnership called the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) to consider the feasibility of building new transmission lines to access renewable generation. The goal is to bring green electricity to the grid as it is generated from isolated areas of the state or possibly adjoining states.
RETI is a means to rapidly develop green energy to meet the state’s mandate of producing 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010 and goal of 33 percent by 2020.
The California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission, the California Independent System Operator (California ISO) and representatives of publicly owned utilities, including Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA), and the Northern California Power Authority (NCPA) are spearheading the initiative.
RETI will serve to identify major renewable zones to be developed throughout the state. As envisioned, the consortium also plans to rank all renewable rich resource areas in and around the state to establish an order in which transmission lines to these areas should be developed.
Jim Shetler of SMUD said the initiative “will help the municipal utilities gain better access to renewable resources in order to meet both aggressive renewable energy targets and eventual greenhouse gas reduction goals.”
Transmission lines for electricity from renewable sources becomes critical as predominantly out-of-state coal-fired power plants, which produce approximately 17 percent of California’s electricity, begin to provide a smaller percentage of the state’s electricity as mandated by the Electricity Emissions of Greenhouse Gases (SB 1368, Perata) to reduce greenhouse gases contributing to global warming.
On September 20, the group’s first public forum will meet to bring the sponsors and stakeholders together to discus the initiative and the process.
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