Forecasting Our Future: Transitioning to regional energy grid could cut costs, carbon emissions in California
California lawmakers will consider a bill this year which would expand Cal ISO to a regional power grid operator with neighboring states.
California lawmakers will consider a bill this year which would expand Cal ISO to a regional power grid operator with neighboring states.
California lawmakers will consider a bill this year which would expand Cal ISO to a regional power grid operator with neighboring states.
Expanding California's power grid operations to a regional system would make the state's power supply more reliable while reducing cost and carbon emissions, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report released earlier this week.
California's electricity grid has been physically connected with those from neighboring states for decades, but each grid is operated independently.
This year, state lawmakers will consider a bill, AB 538, which would turn the California Independent System Operator into a larger regional operator. The DOE report was requested by legislators before the bill's hearing.
According to that report, streamlining power grid operations throughout the west could cut costs by up to 8% while lowering carbon emissions by up to 7.5%. Those savings would come from the ability to more strategically select appropriate power sources given demand, costs and weather conditions.
Andrew Campbell is the Executive Director of the Energy Institute at Haas at UC Berkeley. He says that an integrated western grid can help California achieve its goal of carbon neutrality, set for 2045.
“I see the regional grid as really providing the foundation for the other solutions. We’re still going to need more generation built in California and elsewhere in the region,” Campbell said.
According to Cal ISO, a carbon-neutral California will double the demand on the power grid. Things like population growth, climate change and a surge in electric vehicles on the road are already making the grid more difficult to manage.
“The key challenge on moving this forward is much more political than it is physical," said Campbell.
Those opposed to the expansion of Cal ISO as part of a regional organization are concerned about a loss of control for California when it comes to power rates and climate policies. Campbell says that is a likely scenario.
“It does require giving up some autonomy. That’s the trade-off that a state needs to consider,” he said.
But Campbell says that streamlining a Western grid would simplify operations for renewable power sources. It would also provide information on other states' power supply and demand that California doesn't currently have.
That information could help prevent outages during critical power supply scenarios like extreme heat waves.
"With this kind of market in place, then we have a greater availability to reach out across the region," Campbell said.
California currently receives about 30% of its annual electricity from out-of-state sources.
With an integrated grid, California would be able to more easily receive additional power during demand surges. In the case of a power surplus, that state would be able to feed electricity to other states within the West.
Campbell says a regional grid operation could also pull back on rising electricity costs for home and business owners.
AB 538 is not currently scheduled for a hearing, but that is expected to happen at some point this year. In 2018, a similar bill was rejected.