CPUC Approves 2020 RPS Plans

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has issued Decision 21-01-005, approving 2020 Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) Procurement Plans for the investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs), community choice aggregators (CCAs) and energy service providers (ESPs). Each of these electric load serving entities (LSEs) is required by statute and CPUC orders to file a draft RPS Procurement Plan providing detailed information regarding its RPS portfolio supplies and demand, plans for project development and renewables procurement, and other information, including data on curtailment, cost quantification, and coordination with the CPUC’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) proceeding.

The decision addresses issues specific to each draft RPS Procurement Plan filing, and orders modifications to be made in finalizing each LSE’s final RPS plan. In analyzing the LSEs’ submissions, the decision offers guidance on deficiencies and identifies RPS plans deemed to meet expectations for depth and quality of analysis and forecasting. Generally, the required modifications call on the IOUs to provide more information and data, and in a number of instances direct certain CCAs and ESPs to provide more concrete plans for procurement. The decision also authorizes the IOUs to conduct certain short term sales from their RPS portfolios, and specifically authorizes Southern California Edison Company to optimize future RPS procurement with IRP procurement with an RPS solicitation in 2021.

Decision 21-01-005 also orders expansion of the existing RPS Citation Program to include citations for late draft RPS Procurement Plan filings and late and/or deficient final RPS Procurement Plan filings. As the current RPS Compliance Citation Program does not include fines for late or deficient RPS Procurement Plans, the decision instructs the CPUC Energy Division staff to develop a proposal to add RPS Procurement Plans to the existing RPS Citation Program by July 2021.

Final 2020 RPS Procurement Plans are due to be filed at the CPUC on or before February 19, 2021.

Contact: Brian Biering or Christian Briggs