On May 1, 2020, Southern California Edison (SCE) announced that it is procuring a 770 MW/3,080 MWh package of battery resources to bolster grid reliability.[1] This procurement is more than the entire energy storage market in the U.S. for all of 2019. The utility has contracts with seven battery projects developers, ranging from 50 MW to 230 MW and slated to come online in August 2021. The largest of the projects is a 230 MW facility by NextEra Energy in California’s Riverside County. Most of the projects will be co-located with adjacent solar plants. The utility plans to ask the CPUC for approval of the contracts later in May 2020. According to SCE, the battery projects will enhance electric grid reliability and help address potential energy shortfalls identified by regulators in California. In 2019, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)raised concerns that retiring fossil fuel resources, shifting peak periods, and increasing levels of renewables would create reliability issues.[2] The CPUC has also stated that battery storage will play a critical role in California’s effort to supply all electricity from zero-carbon resources by 2045. Recently, the CPUC adopted an optimal resource portfolio to reach California’s goals; the portfolio requires 1 GW of long-duration storage by 2026 and tripling battery storage capacity from 2020 levels.

[1] https://newsroom.edison.com/releases/sce-grows-clean-energy-portfolio-enhances-system-reliability-with-770-megawatts-of-new-energy-storage-capacity

[2] http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M319/K349/319349071.PDF