California outlines plan for renewable energy transmission

17 August 2009

California’s Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) has released a conceptual transmission plan that evaluates the usefulness of potential transmission lines in accessing and delivering renewable energy. The plan is intended to help enable development and approval of renewable energy infrastructure in ways that minimise the economic cost, environmental impact, and number of new transmission facilities.

The conceptual transmission plan is designed to meet the goal of obtaining 33 per cent of the state’s electricity from renewable resources by 2020. It was created with valuable input from representatives of environmental groups; renewable developers; public and investor-owned utilities; state, federal, and local governments; Native American tribes; and consumers.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Energy Commission, and California Independent System Operator (CAISO) formed RETI, and were soon joined by Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the Northern California Power Agency, and the Southern California Public Power Authority. RETI is a public-private partnership to consider the feasibility of building new transmission lines to access renewable generation from various areas of the state or possibly adjoining states and bring the power to population centres.

‘Insufficient transmission is a major barrier to developing renewable power and bringing the power to where it is needed,’ said CPUC President Michael R Peevey. ‘This report is the result of a process that has never been attempted before; a process that was designed to achieve consensus.’

The first phase of RETI identified areas of the state and adjoining regions that have high densities of biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind resources. These areas are referred to as Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ). RETI Phase 2 work expanded the evaluation and re-ranking of CREZs and focused on the development of a statewide conceptual transmission expansion plan to access the CREZ.

Jim Shetler, SMUD Assistant General Manager for Energy Supply said, ‘The output from this report will assist those of us who have to plan, permit, and build transmission in making more informed decisions on integrating renewable energy delivery into our planning for grid reliability.’

‘Transmission planning will go hand in hand with the implementation of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan,’ said Commissioner Jeffrey Byron, presiding member of the Energy Commission’s power plant siting committee. ‘The plan, as required by the Governor’s executive order streamlining permitting and environmental review of renewable projects, will coordinate renewable generation and transmission development, while conserving precious habitat.’

California ISO President and CEO Yakout Mansour added, ‘The ISO applauds the diligent efforts of the RETI parties. The work is foundational to successful implementation of California’s renewable portfolio standard.’

‘RETI is the improved model for good planning: Anyone who plans a line from now on needs to realise that RETI has set a new standard for public involvement in all stages of transmission planning,’ according to Carl Zichella of the Sierra Club.

The report will be used by state and local agencies as well as utilities and members of the public in developing detailed transmission plans.

For the RETI Phase 2A report, visit www.energy.ca.gov/reti/documents.

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: biomass, geothermal, infrastructure, solar, transmission, utility, wind

This story was published on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Features, North America, biomass/biofuel, energy efficiency, geothermal, policy, solar, water. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “California outlines plan for renewable energy transmission”

1. gert jan eikmans says:

   19 August 2009 at 1:46 am

   making green housing affordable by implementing state of the art, low cost renewable energy will be our next step
   this report is a nice step forward
   interested to make the move? contact http://www.ecomanagementgroupllc.com

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