Utility Dive – SCE’s $1.2B grid reliability storage contract receives approval from regulators

Last March, the CPUC directed the state’s investor-owned utilities to procure resources — particularly energy storage — that would effectively boost their planning reserve margin from 15% to between 17.5% and 19% for the summers of 2021 or 2022. In July, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, issued an emergency proclamation asking the agency to help accelerate the deployment of clean energy and storage projects that could smooth over potential capacity shortages.

In October, SCE requested commission approval of its 537.5 MW contract for utility-owned energy storage projects which would be able to provide capacity during peak and net peak hours during the summer of 2022. In a statement released at the time, developer Ameresco said the three substation systems, which have a four-hour duration, are “a novel approach for incorporating advanced energy storage at the distribution level to solve overall system capacity and reliability needs.”

Read the full release (opens in new window)