posted on Friday, February 02, 2007 10:10 AM by Tracy Davis

California PUC Takes Steps Towards Reducing State's Emissions

In an effort to comply with a new state law limiting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California, on January 25 the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopted an interim Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance Standard.  The interim standard requires the state's energy providers to source their power supply from plants that emit less than 1,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hour whenever they enter into any new or renewed power purchase commitments of five years or more.  That emission rate is equivalent to the CO2 emitted from a combined-cycle natural gas turbine.  Construction of new power plants and major investments by utilities in existing power plants would also be subject to the standard.  The interim standard will be in place until the CPUC can establish a permanent, enforceable load-based GHG emissions standard.

The CPUC's decision was seen as a challenge to traditional coal-fired generators whose CO2 emissions would not meet the interim standard, particularly those located outside the state that sell into California markets.  At present, California gets approximately 20% of its power from traditional coal plants that are located outside the state.  Clean coal plants with CO2 controls would be able to meet the interim standard.