California Energy Commission Seeks Comment on Preliminary Draft Research Roadmap
The California Energy Commission will host an online webinar June 28 to collect public comments on a plan for future research on innovative clean energy technologies.
The webinar on the preliminary draft research roadmap begins at 10 a.m. Participation is by WebEx only.
In 2018, the Energy Commission contracted with the technology and management consulting firm Energetics Inc. to develop a roadmap for prioritizing future Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) investments. The opportunities should focus on increasing the cost competitiveness, performance, flexibility, and reliability of utility-scale renewable energy generation in California. The investments will benefit investor-owned utility electric ratepayers.
The Energy Commission invests about $130 million annually through the EPIC program for scientific and technological research to accelerate the transformation of the electricity sector to meet the state’s energy and climate goals.
The research roadmap will cover topics and performance indicators in the following areas:
• Solar power
• Land-based wind
• Offshore wind
• Bioenergy
• Small hydropower
• Geothermal
• Grid infrastructure
• Energy storage
Webinar presentations and discussions will address each area. Public input should be submitted though the Energy Commission’s electronic commenting page by July 12. The agenda, preliminary roadmap, and a technical assessment will be posted to the Research Idea Exchange docket before the workshop.
The draft roadmap is scheduled to be available for comment this winter. Plans call for the roadmap to be published by mid-2020.
