The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has authored a proposed decision to install 1.325GW of energy storage across the state by 2020. Commissioner Carla Peterman has set out year-by-year procurement targets for Southern California Edison (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).
The installed energy storage can come from any type of technology and can be employed for a variety of functions such as capacity, ancillary services and peak shaving.
PG&E and SCE are each required to install 580 MW of capacity and SDG&E must acquire 165 MW in total by 2020. The utilities would be allowed to own some of the energy storage capacity as part of their distribution system planning process.
This is the first time energy storage has been included in a State policy, supporters hope it will create a market for electrical energy storage solutions. There has been opposition to the proposal from stakeholders, including generator set trade representatives, who believe electricity storage suppliers should compete in the capacity market with other technologies rather than being prioritised in such a way.
The first installations of capacity must be no later than December 2014.
