Media Coverage
Source: Law360
Media Coverage
09.16.13
An overhaul of California energy regulations that looks set to become law includes an option to expand renewable requirements for utilities. The state’s Assembly passed AB 327 which mandates that utilities must at the minimum draw 33 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020 and that state legislators can impose higher standards. The bill however leaves the question of regulation entirely up to the California Public Utilities Commission.
Michael Hindus, an energy partner in Pillsbury’s San Francisco office, commented that the new law would not necessarily be an automatic open door to new projects. “I think until the CPUC starts implementing its exact cost recovery policies and approval of contracts, we're not going to know.”
“The cost of renewable generation is not a stand-alone thing. There are also grid costs and integration costs, and I don't think we know what those integration costs are going to be in a 33 percent environment,” he noted. “All these things are in play and I think these are things the CPUC is going to have to tackle in terms of long-term resource planning.”