California Moves to Invest in Clean Power Sources
State Officials Move to Ensure Utility Investments Will Flow to Clean Energy, Implementing Landmark Statute
New rules adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will shift the state toward long-term investments in electricity generation that come from sources that emit low amounts of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping emissions.
The rules under the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance Standard Act (Senate Bill 1368) would implement the nation’s first electric generation performance standard for global warming pollution, according to CPUC.
“The CPUC has established clear rules that will help give utilities business certainty on the investments needed to provide clean, reliable energy to California families and businesses,” says Audrey Chang, staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
Further investment in traditional power plants would prevent California from meeting its global warming emissions reduction targets under the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) and would expose utility customers to significant financial and reliability risks from future federal regulation, according to the NRDC.
The new global warming emissions performance standard is applicable to any of the workhorse power plants -- or “baseload” generation -- that supply electricity around the clock, no matter if those plants are inside California’s borders or not. It prohibits additional long-term investment on behalf of California consumers in these facilities unless their emissions of global warming pollution are as low, or lower, than emissions from a clean and efficient natural gas power plant. This policy was first embraced by the CPUC in an October 2005 Policy Statement and later codified by SB 1368.
SB 1368 required the CPUC to begin enforcement of the global warming emissions performance standard for California’s investor-owned utilities by Feb. 1. The California Energy Commission is required to begin enforcement of the standard for the state’s municipal utilities by June 30 and is currently developing its rules to do so.
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