GHG Emissions, Utilities, Sourcing Renewables  -  April 24, 2024

California Partnership to Deliver More Clean Energy

Six organizations in California have partnered in an effort to deliver more clean energy at a lower cost to customers by applying for a grant.

The California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and the University of California, Berkeley Energy Institute at Haas submitted a grant application for $2 billion to the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program — the largest such application in state history.

The project, called California Harnessing Advanced Reliable Grid Enhancing Technologies for Transmission (CHARGE 2T), would provide the following benefits:

• Increase statewide electric transmission capacity, which will boost supply, reducing renewable curtailment and reducing costs incurred when there is not sufficient capacity, known as congestion, which would lower costs to customers and
• Improve technologies and coordination to streamline the process for renewable energy projects to interconnect to the grid.

The DOE's GRIP Program is administering $10.5 billion in grants to enhance grid flexibility and improve resilience of the power system against growing threats of extreme weather and climate change. If approved, the matching grant would provide $1 billion.

"This funding will continue to advance grid-enhancing technologies for the state's transmission planning process as we work toward 100% clean electricity," said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild in a statement. "These promising innovations can help lower costs for Californians through greater efficiency that lets us get more out of our shared system."

The project would upgrade over 400 miles of steel power lines across the CAISO system, which serves 30 million people, with advanced conductors that contain carbon fiber and/or composite cores that allow lines to carry more capacity. It would also use grid enhancing technologies (GETs) to reduce congestion.

The grant would also fund technology and process improvements to enhance renewable energy interconnection, adding more clean energy to serve customers.

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