The CPUC staff is actively involved in assessing the operational characteristics of intermittent resources to encourage investment in new wind, solar and other environmentally-benign energy resources. The CPUC’s objective is to reduce the operational impacts and costs of adding intermittent resources to the California grid.
One particular area of concern is that higher imbalance energy costs may result from the intermittent availability of such resources, which must inevitably go “off-schedule” during certain periods of time (e.g., when there is no wind or sun).
The CPUC is working to advance the operational reliability of these resources and the rules that govern them by ensuring they have equal operational consideration with more traditional generation types. The CPUC works to ensure that renewable energy resources are not unduly penalized for their special operational characteristics.
Working to overcome these challenges will ensure the successful integration of renewable energy into the energy market and will encourage a greater diversity in California’s energy resource portfolio, which will, in turn, contribute to greater energy security and less dependence on foreign sources of energy.