California debates over energy origins

Wind turbines in California's Altamont Pass.

California, the state that led the country in establishing a Renewable Portfolio Standard, is moving toward upping its RPS to 33 percent—but how it will get there is yet to be determined.

After California voters in November 2008 rejected Proposition 7, a ballot initiative that would have required all electricity providers in the state to increase their renewable energy generation to 40 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2025, the state legislature in September 2009 passed two bills mandating utilities to get one-third of their power from renewable sources by 2020. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he would veto those bills and instead in September signed an Executive Order directing the California Air Resources Board to enact regulations to create a 33 percent RPS by 2020.

The main difference between the bills and the governor’s order lies in how much power could be imported from out of state. With restrictions on power purchased from out-of-state, the bills were overly complex and would have hampered the state’s solar industry and driven up energy prices, according to the governor’s office. Meanwhile, the bills’ proponents say the governor’s order will lack the clout of legislation and will be tougher to enforce.

Observers say there could also be legal challenges to the executive order, specifically about the limits of the state air board’s authority. “It could get tied up in litigation and delay implementation,” says Dina Dubson, an attorney at Portland-based law firm Stoel Rives.

In 2008, the state’s investor-owned utilities got about 13 percent of their power from RPS-eligible sources, according to the California Public Utilities Commission. In 2009, the CPUC approved contracts for about 1,575 megawatts (MW) of capacity about 25 percent of which came from out of state. An additional 6,000 MW are under review, the agency says.

California’s trade groups and labor unions, which are facing 40 percent unemployment, backed the bills, with their restrictions on imported renewable energy. Some green job advocates in the state are pulling for an additional incentive for utilities that invest in renewable energy systems manufactured in the state—similar to a law in Washington state. “We’re pouring billions of dollars into solar panels produced in other states,” Panama Bartholomy, an advisor for Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, the Chair of the California Energy Commission, told a Sustainable Industries audience at West Coast Green.