California Lawmakers to Discuss Amendment Requests to Pathways Bill
Source: RTO Insider | By Henrik Nilsson
The group asked for amendments to address the following points:
Ensure the RO’s tariffs permit California to withdraw utilities from the regional market without penalties or need for approval by FERC.
Clarify that the RO cannot set “any requirements relating to resource adequacy, reserve margins or reliability.” Additionally, the RO should not be allowed to rely on a centralized capacity market or separate markets for dispatchable, firm and intermittent resources. This is to prevent the federal government from intervening in wholesale markets to provide incentives for coal and gas generation.
Give the California Public Utilities Commission power to direct investor-owned utilities to withdraw from the RO if it violates any of the obligations under SB 540 or implements changes that could harm consumers.
Require utilities to withdraw from the RO if a court rules that California resource planning policies discriminate against out-of-state resources.
Similarly, utilities must withdraw if the federal government takes action that would lead to California consumers subsidizing fossil fuels.
Require utilities to withdraw “if a Joint Concurrent resolution is passed by the State Assembly and State Senate.”
Clarify that the Renewables Portfolio Standard “requirements relating to energy delivery from resources outside of a California Balancing Authority must satisfy strict standards including the use of dynamic scheduling, pseudo ties or firm transmission rights.”
The Utility Reform Network (TURN) is finding some success in getting California state lawmakers to address the group’s concerns about what the Trump administration might do if the Golden State moves forward with plans to hand over control of CAISO’s energy markets to an independent regional organization. Democratic Sen. Josh Becker, who introduced the Pathways bill [SB 540], has said he will convene a group to address the consumer advocacy organization TURN’s concerns with the proposed legislation. In its public comments on the bill, TURN submitted a position of opposition that stands unless the bill is amended. Writing in opposition to the bill, Matthew Freedman, staff attorney for TURN, wrote that handing power over CAISO’s wholesale energy markets to an independent RO while opening the door to other market actors in the West “may expose California customers to new risks that could prove difficult to mitigate.” In an email to RTO Insider, Freedman said: “Our goal is to ensure that the scope and role of Regional Organization is clearly defined in state law and that California has the right to withdraw under a variety of circumstances. We are extremely concerned about the potential for the federal government to make changes to the regional energy markets that would undermine California’s clean energy and decarbonization goals.”
