The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has ordered Southern California Edison (SCE) to procure at least 50 MW of energy storage capacity as part of a plan to supply as much as 1,800 MW of electrical capacity in the area.
The requirement is the first of its kind for a utility in the state, according to Janice Lin, executive director of the California Energy Storage Alliance.
Under the CPUC’s decision, energy storage resources must be considered “along with preferred resources” including energy efficiency, demand response and distributed generation, consistent with the clean energy resource procurement priorities embodied in California’s Energy Action Plan.
Lin said: “This landmark decision represents a major breakthrough for energy storage market development in California and nationwide, and provides a much needed market signal that energy storage will be considered as a key asset class to help California address its long term local reliability needs.”