In 2016, Peninsula Clean Energy made an ambitious move to supply its customers with 100% renewable energy. As of 2021, it met its goal with a mix of renewable and carbon-free energy, including large hydropower and nuclear power at a lower price than customers were paying for power through Pacific Gas & Electric.
In this Energy Minute, Dana and Steven jump into how Peninsula Clean Energy then decided to reach for a more ambitious strategy - to provide 100% renewable energy matched every hour, the first U.S. energy supplier to do so - how that strategy is progressing towards its 2025 goal, and how it plans to continue to advance the strategy further in years to come.
Listen in for:
- PCE has already procured enough solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower resources to cover 75% of its 24/7 strategy by 2025, and will procure additional capacity to reach 99% by the end of 2025. This is providing a blueprint for other utilities to decarbonize, evaluate their modeling, and dispatch storage.
- California has been increasing targets to add energy storage to their mix, which are typically arriving in the form of battery-based storage systems designed to run for as much as four hours at a time, helping fill in some energy gaps.
- PCE is envisioning eventually adding a broader range of technologies to its strategy, including offshore wind and seasonal energy storage.
Resources
Peninsula Clean Energy's Strategic Plan: https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/strategy/
PCE's original white paper sharing its approach to 100% carbon-free energy: http://peninsulacleanenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Whitepaper-OUR-PATH-TO-247-RENEWABLE-ENERGY-BY-2025.pdf
PCE's 2023 white paper sharing how its approach was updated to a 24/7 model: https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/24-7-white-paper-2023.pdf
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