California Energy Bill Expedites Green Energy Project Approvals
The new law consolidates approval processes for solar and wind and authorizes emergency power purchases from natural gas power plants and the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plan.
On June 30, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 205, an energy bill that centralizes and streamlines regulatory authority to approve the construction of solar and wind energy facilities and authorizes the purchase of electricity from several power plants that are scheduled to be retired. While the law received opposition from environmentalists, supporters saw it as a balanced approach between promoting green energy to achieve carbon-free power generation by 2045 and preventing power outages. Newsom supported the plan as a way to avoid the type of rolling blackouts that state experienced in 2020.
The law, which was passed as a trailer bill to the state budget, allows the California Energy Commission (CEC) to approve consolidated permitting for the construction of new solar, wind, and renewable energy facilities without local government approval by June 30, 2029. It also establishes the Strategic Reliability Reserve Fund and authorizes the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to use its funds to purchase power from natural gas-fueled power plants and the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility when power supplies are short.
Opposition
City and county officials opposed the consolidated permitting, which would override local permitting of energy projects. Groups representing local officials argued that the law wrongly usurps local control and pressed for the opportunity to comment on projects and to sunset the provision. Energy developers have often faced local opposition to solar and wind farms.
Environmentalists opposed the Strategic Reliability Reserve Fund and argued that the law would allow Newsom to postpone the 2023 shut-down of several natural gas-fired plants and the 2025 shutdown of Diablo Canyon. The Newsom administration emphasized that the law does not extend the permit of any existing generating facilities planned for retirement, and that extension of any permits can happen only under current law or through subsequent legislation.
The threat of blackouts has already extended the life of several natural gas-fired plants and Diablo Canyon. In 2020, the State Water Board implemented a policy to close several natural-gas fired power plants that use coastal water for cooling. Power plants in Redondo Beach, Huntington Beach, Alamitos in Long Beach, and Ormond Beach in Oxnard were scheduled to close by the end of 2020, but the state water board delayed the shut-downs to the end of 2023 after the August 2020 blackouts.
Newsom has supported both postponing the closure of the natural gas power plants and keeping Diablo Canyon open. Notably, California Senator Diane Feinstein expressed support for extending the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant beyond the scheduled August 2025 closure. She noted that closure of the plant could lead to “years of electricity shortfalls” and argued that the utility be relicensed and retirement delayed under the state can “replace its production with clean sources.”