The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order yesterday granting the California Independent System Operator Corporation (California ISO) the ability to launch the first part of a two-step process to clear a logjam that has hindered renewable projects attempting to connect to the California grid.
The California ISO is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation
charged with managing the flow of electricity along California’s
open-market wholesale power grid.
In yesterday’s FERC order, the ISO was given the okay to waive
certain rules and timelines for handling requests from new power plants
hoping to hook up to the transmission system. As a result, the ISO said it can
begin immediately to reduce a backlog of projects in its overloaded
generation interconnection queue. One of the primary benefits is to
help accelerate development of green power needed to meet California’s
Renewables Portfolio Standard and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals.
"The good news is that renewable power projects are clamoring to supply electricity to California consumers," said California ISO President and CEO Yakout Mansour. "The better news is we can take the first step toward freeing bottlenecks that have prevented these exciting projects from coming online."
The second step in the process will be gaining FERC approval for a full-scale Generator Interconnection Process Reform (GIPR) proposal. The California ISO worked with stakeholders to develop the proposal which was approved by the ISO Board of Governors only last week. The ISO plans to file the long-term solution with FERC by the end of the month.
If approved, the GIPR will resolve the source of the procedural flaws in the current interconnection process, the ISO said. The GIPR would increase the financial commitment necessary for project developers to enter and progress through the interconnection process, allow for studying projects with related system impacts in groups, and provide for pro-rata allocation of transmission upgrades across grouped projects.
With these and other changes, the California ISO said it will have greater confidence that the projects being studied are commercially viable and will be able to study projects more efficiently.
Today, 361 interconnection requests totaling more than 105,000 megawatts (MW) are pending in the interconnection study process. Of these, more than 68,000 MW are for renewable resources.
Last week, utility San Diego Gas & Electric said it has been unable to make better progress toward the state’s mandated renewable energy goals due to delays in permitting.
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