> DB SPOTLIGHT renewable energy
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The California coast offers significant potential for offshore wind development that can help the state reach its renewable energy goals. Developers of wind energy projects located off the California coast will face a number of regulatory challenges, including extensive environmental review, federal and state permitting, and interconnection to the electric grid. There are several variables in the development process that affect which permits are required for offshore wind projects, and federalism issues (i.e., the interaction between state and federal requirements) are yet to be resolved. [continue reading]
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Downey Brand News Alert
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On January 31, 2022, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) issued its first ever 20-year draft transmission outlook, which identifies $30.5 billion in long-term infrastructure upgrades and build-outs needed to meet the State’s goal of ensuring all electric retail sales are from carbon-free resources by 2045. The outlook, developed in collaboration with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC), evaluates diverse generating resources, examines land-use patterns and transmission alternatives, and provides a roadmap to help enable and accelerate the integration of new renewable energy and energy storage resources onto the grid. The 20-year outlook complements the CAISO’s annual Transmission Plan, which authorizes specific transmission infrastructure projects based on a 10-year planning horizon. [continue reading]
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Downey Brand is a supporting sponsor of the Pacific Offshore Wind Summit co-hosted by Infocast and Offshore Wind California. The three-day event, March 28-30, 2022, is being held in person at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco and will feature 65 expert speakers, 14 content-packed sessions, and premier networking opportunities to connect with key decision-makers in the industry.
Summit proceedings kick-off on March 28 with an Executive Briefing on Planning and Preparation for California Lease Auctions followed by two days of robust programming to discuss siting, permitting, and environmental issues, explore floating wind technology advances, and better understand the road map for development in this new clean-power market.
More information, including how to register, is available here.
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> renewable energy projects in the news
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PV Magazine, February 17, 2022
The Southern California Gas Company announced a plan to develop the nation’s largest green hydrogen energy infrastructure system – the “Angeles Link” – which would deliver green hydrogen to the Los Angeles Basin region. Southern California Gas will submit the first phase of its plans to the California Public Utilities Commission today.
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Renewable Energy World, February 14, 2022
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved plans to add around 25,500 MW of renewable energy resources and 15,000 MW of energy storage and demand response resources by 2032. The decision also adopted a 35 million metric ton (MMT) electric sector greenhouse gas emission (GHG) planning target. That goal, also to be achieved by 2032, is tighter than an earlier 46 MMT GHG target.
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Grist, February 11, 2022
One of President Joe Biden’s favorite slogans on the campaign trail was “500,000 charging stations” for electric vehicles. And now, as president, he has continued to conjure an image of an America filled with electric cars and peppered from coast to coast with lightning-fast EV chargers.
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PV Magazine, February 8, 2022
You’ve heard of “floatovoltaics”, but Project Nexus takes a different approach by installing solar panels over canals. The concept grew out of a 2021 study conducted at the University of California, Merced and UC Santa Cruz, which found many advantages to mounting solar panels over open water canals.
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> more infrastructure news
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In November 2021, President Biden signed the landmark $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation package, more commonly referred to as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“the Act”), with bipartisan support. Not only does the Act provide a significant amount of funding for key environmental and infrastructure projects in accordance with Biden Administration priorities, but the Act also contains substantive provisions designed to streamline the environmental permitting processes. Some of the most important streamlining provisions of the Act are related to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental reviews for “major projects” under NEPA, which includes most infrastructure projects being funded by the Act, and amend certain NEPA streamlining provisions for infrastructure projects covered under President Obama’s Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015. [view PDF of article]
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ConstructionDive, February 15, 2022
State transportation officials tacked on an additional $5 billion to the budget for California's high-speed rail project, according to a 2022 business plan report, bringing the total projected cost to $105 billion. That $5 billion increase is due to distancing the train from the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in the Central Valley and tunneling tracks near Burbank airport, according to the Associated Press. The completed 500-mile high-speed system will run between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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Food Manufacturing, January 31, 2022
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans to increase capacity at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, CA and improve service for shippers of U.S. grown agricultural commodities. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is partnering with the Port of Oakland to set up a new 25-acre “pop-up” site to make it easier for agricultural companies to fill empty shipping containers with commodities.
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