AB 2369: Electricity: energy storage: energy-only resources.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations.

Existing law requires the PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan, and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the Independent System Operator (ISO), to determine if there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources based on a review of the integrated resource plans.

This bill would require the PUC, when requiring procurement of resources under an integrated resource plan, to account for the ability of energy-only resources to achieve required clean energy deployment rates, to charge storage resources during off-peak periods, and to increase resource diversity, and would require the PUC to enable energy-only resources to satisfy procurement requirements to the maximum extent feasible.

Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to provide transmission-focused guidance to the ISO about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, as specified, to allow the ISO to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers.

This bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to identify cost-effective opportunities to enable planned or operating energy-only resources to obtain deliverability through transmission capacity expansions, and to request the ISO to reserve associated deliverability for geothermal and wind. The bill would require the commission to designate energy-only resources as long lead-time resources for purposes of the ISOs scoring in its interconnection process, as specified.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2476 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2476 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2111 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2111 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.