Megatrend #1: Decarbonization of the Energy System

Aggressive state goals are moving everyone toward low- and zero-carbon fuels, new transmission delivering renewables, and new energy storage technologies to power California’s electricity grid of the future. The transition to 100% decarbonization must be done sensibly and recognize that reliability all over the West will continue to face challenges.


As it works to decarbonize its electricity supply, a transmission-constrained utility like Burbank Water and Power doesn’t have the option to simply build a 200-megawatt solar farm that provides clean energy in one swoop. Land is scarce and expensive in Southern California. With that problem in mind, Mandip Samra, BWP’s general manager, is looking for smaller contributions from a wider range of sources, both on the supply and demand side.

It's the type of “all-of-the-above” energy solution that California likely will need to rely on if the state is to reach its planned-for clean energy milestones the next 10 years on the path toward 100% decarbonization by 2045.

“We are pursuing optionality in our future resource mix,” Samra said. The current integrated resource plan (IRP) envisions a 28 MW contribution from the Intermountain Power Plant in Utah, a former coal-fired plant that is being converted to burn natural gas and up to 30% “green” hydrogen, which will be produced by a nearby solar project.

The utility also is studying installing carbon capture and sequestration technology at its local gas-fired Magnolia Power Plant. Alternately, that 95-MW combined cycle may burn a mix of gas and hydrogen, or renewable biogas, in the future.

BWP also is pursuing a 40-MW slice of a solar and storage project currently being bid by the Southern California Public Power Association (SCPPA). Several other hoped-for renewable energy projects have fallen by the wayside since mid-2022, the victim of price escalation triggered, in part, by ongoing supply chain constraints.

The utility, which serves an estimated 55,000 customers in Burbank, also is piloting a small-scale commercial rooftop solar project, which Samra hopes will be the first of several. “We have a lot of rooftops in Burbank — residential, commercial, and city-owned — and getting to zero-carbon by 2040 means we need to put that real estate to work.”

BWP’s goal of getting to zero-carbon emissions by 2040 is five years ahead of the state requirement that power companies achieve zero-carbon status by 2045.

Like many of its peers, BWP also is deploying the first of what it hopes will be several battery energy storage systems. This first system, a 75-kW system, is scheduled to be operating by the end of 2023. It will store electricity produced by solar panels at the utility’s Eco Campus, alongside its headquarters. The battery will use iron-flow technology, not lithium-ion, which equipment manufacturer ESS said it a safer and more sustainable option.

The utility also is exploring expanding its transmission rights, something Samra credits to former General Manager Dawn Roth Lindell’s long experience as a leader in the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA).

“Prior to Dawn’s arrival, I think we were culturally constrained to look only at the resources we had always used,” said Samra, who joined BWP in early 2021 after about 17 years of experience in power supply at nearby Pasadena Water and Power, Southern California Edison, and Anaheim Public Utilities. “Dawn convinced the organization that it needed to look beyond what we had. She supported us as we looked outside the box. The transmission piece is the biggest change for us.”

BWP is also looking to tap into demand-side resources through new customer programs — including potentially enhancing its demand-response program and introducing time-of-use rates.

“We are more frequently discussing with customers the best time to use electricity,” Samra said, referring to the well-known “duck curve,” where there is a surplus of in-state renewable energy in the middle of the day during the summer and a shortfall in the late afternoon. That resource mismatch has caused enormous amounts of renewable electricity to not be utilized.

Trained as an economist, Samra sees BWP’s stakeholders as a critical resource as the utility decarbonizes: “Capitalize on your relationships. Listen to what your stakeholders have to say. If we all come together in an inclusive way, we will produce better solutions. Make yourself available to your stakeholders because it’s going to be an interesting decade."

CMUA Recommendations:
Decarbonizing the grid is happening, but can only be done with 1) ideas and actions appropriate for each region and utility, 2) a clear focus on high reliability and controlling costs, and 3) and diverse portfolio of clean energy resources beyond solar and wind.

Big Stat:
37%
-- The percentage of California’s overall power supply that is decarbonized today.