News

California's renewable energy organizations issued a statement in support of the report issued by Governor Newsom's wildfire strike team.

Today, CalWEA submitted comments to the CPUC supporting a Proposed Decision (PD) that would establish Integrated Resource Planning as a mandatory process for all load-serving entities (LSEs) aimed at securing an optimal overall electric resource portfolio.  In public comments at the CPUC last week, CalWEA Executive Director Nancy Rader stated that “the PD demonstrates the risks of letting a thousand LSEs bloom without some coordination – namely, potential failure to meet the state’s environmental goals reliably and at least-cost.”

CalWEA wrote to the San Diego County Planning Commission that it is gratified that the County’s Public Health Services has conducted a thorough review of the peer-reviewed science and other materials related to the human health impacts of wind turbines.  The agency concluded that "the available scientific evidence suggests that ...

CalWEA and virtually all other renewable energy trade groups sent a letter to Governor Newsom and legislative leaders today, urging them “to seek immediate assurance from PG&E that its energy-supplier contracts will be affirmed and that generation interconnection deposits supporting new renewable energy projects will be protected and used to develop the transmission upgrades necessary to interconnect those projects.”

CalWEA Executive Director Nancy Rader and CalWEA Siting Advisor Anne E. Mudge discuss what SB 100 means for wind energy in California and the California market.

Today, CalWEA, together with most of California’s utility-scale renewable energy industry associations, issued joint comments in response to the California Public Utilities Commission’s draft Customer Choice “Green Book.” Among other things, the comments ask the CPUC to assess the risk that some load-serving entities will not be able to shoulder their share of the state’s renewable energy and greenhouse-gas-reduction targets in the near-term.

Today, CalWEA joined with virtually all other renewable energy trade groups in sending a letter to the Governor and Legislature regarding the urgent need to address the unlimited liability that the investor-owned utilities are facing after the wildfires, which threatens their solvency -- and, in turn, California's renewable energy and climate goals.  

CalWEA today submitted comments on the BLM's Notice of Intent to amend its Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.  CalWEA welcomed the review, given the 2016 DRECP’s unreasonable exclusion of wind energy development on BLM lands in California.  

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management today announced that it will reconsider the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), which largely prohibited wind energy development across the vast California desert.  (Also see CalWEA's map depicting that prohibition under "Reports".)

In this cover story for North American Windpower, CalWEA Executive Director Nancy Rader explains that, despite headwinds from Washington, D.C., California remains a strong market for wind energy as its value rises.  But many challenges remain, particularly in delivering regional wind energy to California and repowering 1980s-vintage turbines.