The California Natural Resources Agency released an updated report detailing state actions and strategies to adapt to a changing climate as California continues to experience rising average temperatures, destructive fires, higher sea levels, and extreme precipitation events.

The Safeguarding California Plan: 2018 Update, released January 29, lays out a roadmap for everything state agencies are doing and will do to protect communities, infrastructure, services, and the natural environment from climate change impacts.

“California leads the nation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat the effects of climate change, but impacts already are being felt – and they are disproportionately affecting our most vulnerable communities,” California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird said.

On January 25, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. emphasized the need for climate action in his State of the State address.

The updated Safeguarding California Plan includes several new chapters and features, including a climate justice chapter highlighting how equity is woven throughout the entire plan.

From pinpointing vulnerabilities in the electricity grid to improving energy efficiency to realigning coastal roads to prepare for sea-level rise, state agencies are funding projects and actions to safeguard both natural and built environments from climate change impacts.

Research shows the Los Angeles region will see average temperatures rise 3-5 °F by mid-century and experience an increase in the number of extreme heat days, adding significant strain on the energy grid. The California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program funded a project to develop data that will help local and regional agencies and utilities identify where the grid is most vulnerable, which neighborhoods are served by these problem spots, and what types of adaptation measures should be taken to improve reliability and minimize risks to public health and safety.

Additional climate change adaptation actions can be found in a compilation developed by the Natural Resources Agency in tandem with the 2018 update.

Later this year, the Natural Resources Agency and other agencies will release California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment, which will include more than 50 reports on expected climate change impacts in California.

For more about the state’s climate change adaptation efforts, visit http://resources.ca.gov/climate/safeguarding/.

Photo courtesy of the United States Geological Survey

California, which is on track to meet its goal of having 33 percent of its electricity come from renewable resources by 2020, now has its sights on making that 50 percent by 2030.

The bulk of the renewable resources are expected to come from solar and wind, but there is a potential problem. What happens to the electricity supply when clouds block the sunlight or when the winds aren’t blowing?

How that’s managed will be one of the many topics covered when the California Energy Commission along with Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric host the fourth annual Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Symposium on February 7 at the Sacramento Convention Center.

The Energy Commission’s EPIC program supports innovations and strategies to advance clean energy technologies that help California meet its energy and climate goals.

California’s energy markets depend on accurate forecasts of the amount of solar and power that can be counted on in the next hour, next few days, and through the month.

Panelists will highlight cutting-edge advancements in forecast accuracy and quality and explain how wireless sensor technology is helping to improve the modeling and forecasting of California’s water resources so utilities can better manage hydropower generation.

The symposium is free and open to the public. To register, visit the EPIC Eventbee web page. To participate remotely, or view WebEx directions in the event notice.

The California Energy Commission will hold its fourth annual Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Symposium Feb. 7, at the Sacramento Convention Center. It will be co-hosted by Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas and Electric.

The symposium is a forum for industry leaders, innovators, builders, entrepreneurs, students and others to discuss clean energy research, advances, and challenges and to learn more about cutting-edge strategies that are helping to transform California’s electricity system and protect the environment.

The EPIC program was established in 2011 by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to support clean energy research. About $160 million is invested annually for projects that improve the energy efficiency of buildings, make the electrical grid more reliable, enhance the integration of renewables, advance the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure, and improve water and energy management. Many of the recent grant recipients will be on hand during the event to discuss their projects.

The symposium will feature panels covering a broad array of topics including: zeroing in on highly efficient buildings, improving power system resilience for disaster recovery, accurately forecasting to support the modern grid, scaling-up energy solutions for low-income customers, increasing uptake of demand response technologies, and energy technology solutions for food production.

Panelists will include representatives from the Energy Commission, CPUC, investor-owned utilities (IOUs), business and industry, environmental organizations, academia and government.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, who has been heavily involved in legislative actions to increase clean energy, reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency across the state will provide the opening keynote address.

California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross will moderate a panel sessions on food production, and CPUC Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves will moderate a panel examining energy solutions for low income customers.

The EPIC program is funded by ratepayers from the state’s three largest IOUs and is administered by the Energy Commission along with the IOUs.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Lunch options are available. For more information or to register, visit the EPIC Symposium web page.

As California aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy and energy efficiency, the California Energy Commission is making it easier to track the energy plans of a publicly owned utility (POU).

POUs are required to adopt integrated resource plans by January 1, 2019, and submit them to the Energy Commission for review. These plans should express the resource needs of POUs, policy goals, operational constraints, and proposed resource choices. For instance, a POU might plan to add energy from renewable sources when a natural gas power plant retires in the near future. Other activities that could reduce demand for new generation resources – sometimes called preferred demand-side resources – should also be part of the plans and include energy efficiency, demand response programs for customers, and energy storage.

To make this process more transparent to the public, the Energy Commission has created a web page to provide information on POU activities, hearings, and events.

“Integrated resource plans will shape California’s energy future,” said Energy Commission Chair Robert B. Weisenmiller. “It’s a process we want accessible to every person who is interested in understanding our energy mix and its impact on the world around us.”

The integrated resource plan process was established by Senate Bill 350 (De León). The legislation expects the plans to provide a framework to evaluate how a utility has aligned its work with the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and other policy goals of the legislation. SB 350 codified Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels, double the rate of energy efficiency savings in California buildings, and generate half of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The Energy Commission has adopted guidelines on how the integrated resource plans should be developed. Once the plans are established in 2019 they will be updated eat least once every five years.

Burning coal to create electricity is in steep decline because of California’s strong commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The latest California Energy Commission tracking progress report finds coal-fired electricity in California fell about 75 percent from 2007 to 2016. In that span, coal provided a high of about 18 percent of California’s electricity in 2008 and a low of about 4 percent in 2016.

“We’ve come a long way from the Bleak House of Charles Dickens,” said Energy Commission Chair Robert B. Weisenmiller. “No longer is coal a significant part of California’s energy mix. California is showing the world that a portfolio of clean energy is reliable, creates jobs, reduces health problems and limits environmental impacts.”

Coal’s share of the electricity mix is projected to be 3 percent by 2019 and to almost zero by the end of 2025. Those dates are driven by expiring contracts with existing out-of-state coal facilities. The only coal plant in California is the 63-megawatt Argus Cogen plant in San Bernardino County.

California’s emissions performance standard and greenhouse emission goals are the forces driving the decline of coal. The standard, established in 2006, limited the carbon dioxide emission rate of any energy source, according to the tracking progress report.

A pair of greenhouse gas emission goals reinforced California’s commitment to clean energy. The first, established by the Legislature and Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent of 1990 levels by 2030. Next, the Governor increased the standard to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

While coal is quickly becoming a part of the past in California, it continues to be a dominant, although declining, source of energy throughout the country. Nationally, coal generation fell about 18 percent from 2007 to 2016. Other states joining California with little reliance on coal include Oregon, Washington, Idaho and the Northeastern states.

Intermountain Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant, located in Delta, Utah.

California’s leadership role in advancing the use and availability of renewable energy continues as evidenced by results of a California Energy Commission report which estimates that 30 percent of the state’s electric energy currently comes from renewable energy sources.

The state’s progress with renewables is also evidenced by data from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) which shows renewable energy penetration of as much as 40 percent.

The Energy Commission data appears in the Energy Commission’s tracking progress report on renewable energy. That report is a proxy for measuring the state’s progress toward its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The RPS establishes increasingly progressive renewable energy procurement targets for California.

California’s renewable energy targets include sourcing 30 percent of its electric energy from renewables by 2020 and 50 percent by 2030.

When large hydro power is added to the renewables sourcing calculation it puts California at more than 40 percent at electric energy sourcing from renewable energy. In 2016 large hydro accounted for 10 percent of the state’s power production. Unlike other states, California does not factor in large hydro power in its RPS measurements.

A daily and monthly look at the state’s energy sourcing shows robust sourcing of renewables. Data compiled by CAISO show the average renewable energy penetration in November was 42.2 percent.
And during a one five-minute period in November California sourced 60 percent of its energy from renewable sources, according CAISO, which manages the state’s power grid.
Increasing renewable energy capacity, especially wind and solar power, is critical to California meeting RPS goals. The Energy Commission’s tracking progress report shows that wind and solar now accounts for 67 percent of all the state’s renewable energy generation.

The California Energy Commission introduced a new statewide incentive project late December to promote expansion of California’s electric vehicle charging network, improve air quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light-duty trucks.

Funded by the Energy Commission and managed by the Center for Sustainable Energy, the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP) works with community partners to develop and implement regional incentive projects to install chargers and accelerate the expansion of charging infrastructure.

“The California Energy Commission is pleased to launch the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project and appreciates Fresno County taking the lead by debuting CALeVIP’s first incentive project,” said Energy Commissioner Janea A. Scott. “As the state transitions to cleaner transportation in order to meet clean air standards and climate goals, it’s important to increase access to the charging infrastructure that makes plug-in electric vehicles a more viable option for communities across California.”

The first incentive project to be launched under CALeVIP is a $4 million Fresno County Incentive Project. The Fresno project will provide cash incentives for the purchase and installation of Level 2 electric vehicle chargers to owners of commercial properties, apartments, condominiums, workplaces, and public agencies in Fresno County. Level 2 charging allows most vehicles to go from zero to a full charge in four to eight hours and can also be used for a partial charge.

CALeVIP and its regional incentive projects are made possible through a grant by the Energy Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, which supports innovations in transportation and fuel technologies.

CALeVIP is currently funded for more than $15 million, with the potential to receive up to $200 million.