California Commission Orders Unprecedented 11.5-Gigawatt Procurement to Meet Clean Energy Goals

The California Public Utilities Commission on June 24 directed utilities to procure 11,500 megawatts of new generation from clean energy sources. This is the largest clean energy procurement ordered to date and is a step towards California’s goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean electricity by 2045. The resources, required to come online between 2023 and 2026, would have the potential to power 2.5 million homes. The procurement is required to replace lost generation from retiring power plants and to meet resilience needs.

New generation will be procured from renewables, zero-emitting sources, and distributed energy resources including demand response and energy efficiency. Long duration storage, pumped hydro facilities, and other emerging technologies that can store energy for eight or more hours are also included. This new procurement would add to the 63 percent of California’s energy that comes from zero-carbon sources.  This decision reflects the evolution of utility resource planning across the U.S. as state regulators face growing demand for cleaner energy to meet carbon neutrality goals.

This procurement is equal to the output of 20 natural gas plants or 4 large nuclear plants. The generation from the new resources would go towards replacing over 3,700 megawatts of generation from natural gas plants and 2,200 megawatts from Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. This adds to the capacity that has already been procured over the past few years, including the procurement of 4,000 megawatts of clean energy generation to come online between 2021 and August 2024, and other state energy programs such as the renewables portfolio standard. The resources will also help California’s energy sector respond to extreme weather events and ensure reliability during periods of high demand.

The commission’s procurement is a decision based on two proposals issued last month—the first proposal was revised in response to parties comments to make new generation 100 percent emissions free and renewable, so the alternate proposal was withdrawn.