California Climate & Energy Collaborative

California invests in “by location” distributed energy resources

Sarina Soor
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“California is leading the nation with several pilot projects to reward more rooftop solar energy generators and other distributed energy resources in specific locations as an alternative to utilities’ needs to invest in upgrading their electricity generation networks. This use of Locational Net Benefit Analysis (LNBA) can foster the growth of hundreds of megawatts of…

Center for Climate Protection launches national renewable energy laboratory project

Sarina Soor
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“This project will deliver a tool that can produce rate structures to incentivize deployment of DERs including distributed solar photovoltaics, energy efficiency, energy storage, electric vehicles, and demand response technologies. The project will create a DER rate structure design tool that captures the value of DER projects; can be readily adopted, customized, and updated by…

Valuing Distributed Energy Resources: Combined Heat and Power and the Modern Grid

Sarina Soor
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Distributed energy resources such as combined heat and power (CHP) could help communities avoid or minimize some impacts of large-scale natural disasters including blackouts. ACEEE’s new white paper, Valuing Resilient Distributed Energy Resources: Combined Heat and Power and the Modern Grid, proposes a new metric to help decision makers better assess the costs of disruptive…

How to unleash DER in California by fixing transmission cost allocation distortions – May 10

Sarina Soor
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Transmission costs in California are excessive and growing. At the current rate, within a handful of years, transmission costs will surpass the costs of generating electricity. Well-established distributed energy resources (DER) can reduce needs for new transmission infrastructure, and DER have already saved California ratepayers billions of dollars in avoided transmission costs. But the way…

The rise of Distribution Resources Planning – May 17

Sarina Soor
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In a follow-up to January’s webinar on Distribution Resources Planning, Outreach Director John Bernhardt, along with E9 Insight’s Cameron Brooks, will give an update on how new distribution grid planning processes are necessary as more distributed energy resources are integrated. They will: Detail key components of Distribution Resources Planning and discuss how states are initiating…

CAISO backs PG&E clean energy plan for Oakland

Sarina Soor
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“PG&E received CAISO approval for its Oakland Clean Energy Initiative (OCEI) March 22. The utility said it will soon open a two-month request-for-proposals process for providers of distributed energy resources to propose storage and efficiency solutions that would provide 20 to 45 MW “of clean energy resources.” CAISO has a reliability-must-run contract with Dynegy, which…

Distributed solar and efficiency saves California $2.6 billion on power lines

Sarina Soor
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“California’s grid operator has chosen to cancel 20 transmission projects and revise 21 others, as energy efficiency and distributed generation prove their worth. The majority of the projects were located in the service area of utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), while two of the canceled projects were located in San Diego Gas & Electric…

Energy Efficiency Has a Leading Role to Play in Our Distributed Energy Future

Sarina Soor
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“The increased prevalence of distributed energy resources is driving changes to utility planning. Our new report, The Role of Energy Efficiency in a Distributed Energy Future, found that most utilities are not currently using energy efficiency in distribution system planning, but several states are pursuing new approaches to using efficiency to displace traditional distribution infrastructure…

Webinar: Advancing Distributed Energy Resources in a Community Choice Context – Feb 21

Sarina Soor
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“This webinar will focus on the rapidly evolving role of Community Choice agencies as catalysts for advancing distributed energy resources (DERs) in California with an emphasis on market models and community resiliency benefits. Lorenzo Kristov, an independent consultant focusing on integration of distributed resources, formerly market and infrastructure policy principal with CAISO, will present on…