CPUC Continues California’s Leadership in Energy Efficiency With New Goals
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today established new energy savings goals for California’s electric and natural gas utilities from 2022 to 2032 and provided updated guidance for 2022-2023 goals, further transitioning the state towards long-term greenhouse gas reductions and grid benefits.
Today’s Decision addresses the findings of the 2021 Energy Efficiency Potential and Goals Study. Due to recent policy changes within the last two years, the study incorporates new information that updates some of the approaches to estimating energy efficiency potential, with new savings estimates from fuel substitution, demand response integration, data from the CPUC’s integrated resource planning proceeding, and the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Program Administrators will follow the updated guidance as they prepare their 2022-2023 budget Advice Letters and their 2024-2027 portfolio applications due in February 2022. The California Energy Commission, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Independent System Operator will also use these goals to inform integrated energy resources planning.
The CPUC, in consultation with the California Energy Commission, is required to identify all potential achievable cost-effective electricity and natural gas energy savings and establish efficiency targets for utility companies to achieve through ratepayer-funded incentives. Energy efficiency goals are updated every two years and are incremental, in that they represent how much additional energy savings California can achieve compared to the previous years’ goals.
“This Decision applies a goals scenario that best reflects the CPUC’s intent for Program Administrators to aggressively pursue all energy savings opportunities, including fuel substitution measures that have been an untapped measure,” said Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma, who is assigned to the proceeding. “We are sending a strong signal to all Program Administrators to pursue these savings opportunities to advance energy efficiency in California to help reach our greenhouse gas reduction goals.”
Commissioner Darcie L. Houck agreed, saying, “Our Decision today makes it clear that we intend for program administrators to aggressively pursue all energy savings opportunities in their ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs, including fuel substitution measures.”
The CPUC last revised energy efficiency goals in 2019 in Decision 19-08-034.
The proposal voted on is available at https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M401/K543/401543859.PDF.
Documents related to this proceeding are available at https://apps.cpuc.ca.gov/apex/f?p=401:56:0::NO:RP,57,RIR:P5_PROCEEDING_SELECT:R1311005.
The CPUC regulates services and utilities, safeguards the environment, and assures Californians’ access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services. For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.
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