Renewable Energy Focus
Los Angeles Times - Sep 8 California will become a petri dish for international efforts to slow global warming under legislation signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday, forcing one of the world’s largest economies to squeeze into a dramatically smaller carbon footprint. The legislation, SB 32, requires the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, a much more ambitious target than the previous goal of hitting 1990 levels by 2020. The state has already been ramping up solar power generation, handing out subsidies for drivers to buy electric cars, and prodding developers to create denser communities connected to mass transit. But research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory shows that current policies may get the state only about halfway to the 2030 goal. Right now the state is inching closer to 1990 emissions levels, a target set a decade ago by an earlier law. That means Californians can expect to feel more of what Brown has called the “coercive power of government.” Businesses will likely face more restrictive rules, and taxpayer and ratepayer money will be needed to subsidize cleaner technologies.
Sacramento Bee - Sep 7 Governor Brown, who last month delayed his proposal to integrate California’s largest electricity grid with other states, on Wednesday acknowledged the political difficulty of such a plan but said a broader grid is necessary to support growing renewable-energy production in the West. Proponents said allowing power companies to share electricity across state lines could reduce the number of renewable-energy facilities needed to achieve California’s greenhouse-gas reduction goals. But Governor Brown told legislative leaders last month that he wanted more time to study the issue.
Greentech Media - Sep 7 California regulators have released a plan that could radically change the way demand response is managed in the state. In an August 30 proposed decision, the California Public Utilities Commission laid out a path for fuel-fired generators to be phased out of the state’s demand-side resource mix by 2018, and for today’s utility program-centered model to shift toward an open market for third-party energy services by decade’s end. Last week’s proposed decision is the result of a years-long process aimed at improving the state’s poor performance in demand response, the business of controlling buildings and machines to reduce power use and help the grid.
Energy Collective - Sep 7 The mix of energy sources used for power generation in California this summer changed from the same period last year, as renewables and imported electricity offset lower natural gas use. During summer 2016, thermal generation (almost all from natural gas) in the area serviced by the California Independent System Operator was down 20 percent from the previous summer, while generation from hydroelectricity, other renewables, and electricity imports was higher than the same period last year.
PV Magazine - Sep 8 According to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, a quarterly publication from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association, the U.S. deployed 41.2 megawatts of energy storage in the second quarter of 2016, an increase of 126 percent over the first quarter of the year. The nation is on track to deploy 287 megawatts of energy storage this year.
Monterey Weekly - Sep 8 For three years, 21 municipal and county governments in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties have been striving to promote renewable energy, as well as to give their residents a choice besides Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). They’ve been working on creating a Community Choice Energy program, which allows cities and counties to buy energy in bulk, often with a higher percentage of renewable energy than what PG&E offers, then sell the energy to residents. Advocates of the tri-county CCE called Monterey Bay Community Power say this will also lead to local job creation. But disagreements over governance of the burgeoning agency have slowed down the process.
SeeNews Renewables - Sep 8 The U.S. unit of German solar manufacturer SolarWorld announced a partnership with REC Solar designed to help SolarWorld installers develop commercial projects. The tie-up will see REC Solar, a U.S. commercial solar installer majority owned by energy company Duke Energy Corp, provide financing, procurement, and other services. Qualified SolarWorld installers will gain access to project financing from REC Solar’s $225-million fund, guaranteed by Duke Energy, in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
