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California PUC Announces Plan to Cap GHG Emissions

By Eric McErlain
Thanks to my colleague Mary Quillian, I was able to find the following draft decision that was issued late last week by the California Public Utilities Commission:
Today we state our intent to develop a load-based cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), and non-utility load serving entities (LSEs) that provide electric power to customers within these respondents' service territories. Over the longer term, we also intend to develop a GHG limitation program that includes emissions from the natural gas sector, as the requisite emission reporting and certification protocols become available.

As discussed in this decision, we will establish a baseline for the GHG emissions cap on a historical year basis, with 1990 as our preferred reference year. Our final determination on this matter will await further consideration of implementation issues associated with using this particular year as the reference, including the availability of adequate historical emissions data for the investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and other LSEs. We also leave to the implementation phase our consideration of the appropriate level of emissions reductions (and associated caps) over time, relative to the base year.
Though I haven't found any schedule for hearings, the CPUC has invited public comments on the draft decision. These are due to the CPUC on February 2, 20 days following the publication of the decision. Comments may not exceed 15 pages.

More later.

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