On August 31, 2021, the California ISO held its August Summer Readiness Update Call.  During the month of August, the California ISO grid faired well, as temperatures were more mild, and any hot weather was localized, rather than extending across the western United States.

The California ISO also noted recent transparency improvements, including publication of a daily RA Capacity Trend and 7-Day Capacity Trend, as well a Daily Day-Ahead Summer Report and a monthly Summer Market Performance Report.

Bill Weaver, Senior Counsel at the California ISO, gave an update of the California ISO’s efforts concerning the State Power Augmentation Project.  The State Power Augmentation Project is an effort to site small gas turbines at existing sites that stems from the Governor’s July 30, 2021 Emergency Proclamation.  The California Department of Water Resources and the California Energy Commission have reached out to generation owners that could accommodate the addition of 30 MW gas turbines.  So far, two sites have been found:  Greenleaf 1 in Yuba City and Roseville Energy Park.  Each site will accommodate two turbines.  The units are supposed to come online in mid-September.

The two turbines at Roseville Energy Park will be interconnected through the Balancing Authority of Northern California and will participate in the California ISO’s energy imbalance market.  The two turbines at Greenleaf 1 will interconnect to the California ISO.  Under current tariff provisions, the California ISO can interconnect 50 MWs of the 60 MW total.  The Greenleaf 1 site has cogeneration facilities that are currently mothballed but still retain existing interconnection capacity of 49.2 MWs.  Because both the cogeneration facilities and the new gas turbines are gas-fired, there will be no change to the electrical characteristics, and the California ISO can therefore interconnect the two turbines under the repowering provisions of the tariff, but only up to 49.2 MWs.

Allowing the final 10.8 MWs of generation to interconnect without going through the lengthy interconnection process, however, requires a waiver of Section 25.1 of the California ISO tariff.  The California ISO filed a petition for that tariff waiver at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on August 24, asking for a shortened comment period and requesting the Commission act as soon as possible.  The waiver petition may be found here.

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