Protecting Small Generators and Ratepayers in California: SCE WDAT filing

On October 18, Southern California Edison (SCE) held its first meeting to reform its Wholesale Distribution Access Tariff process. This reform stems from the current proposal by the California Independent Systems Operator (CAISO) to eliminate the Small Generator Interconnection Procedure (SGIP). Although this attempted reform was expected given that Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs), such as SCE, are keen to eliminate the SGIP and to align their WDATs accordingly, the FIT Coalition was one of the few non-IOU parties who learned of and participated in the SCE meeting.

As the voice for the Wholesale Distributed Generation (WDG) market segment in these proceedings, the FIT Coalition understands that the developer community is frequently blindsided by the decisions at the IOUs and at the state regulatory bodies. We can assure you that the FIT Coalition is representing the voice of WDG at those proceedings and in our filings in a determined and effective fashion. And we are proud that our work helps ratepayers since all energy consumers will benefit by the quick scale up of cost-effective clean energy on the distribution grid.

At this particular meeting, turnout was dominated by SCE and CAISO; at least half of the 60 participants were from one of those two organizations. Hence the FIT Coalition’s participation was critical in protecting the interests of WDG. While SCE will make every effort to eliminate the benefits of SGIP in its WDAT, the FIT Coalition will fight to preserve and improve provisions that level the playing field for WDG.You can download our public comments with SCE here. We will provide another update after SCE posts its first proposed tariff language in late November. If you would like to know more about the FIT Coalition’s efforts to protect and defend small clean energy developers and all ratepayers at IOU and regulatory hearings, please contact[email protected]and a FIT Coalition team member will be in touch.