SB 1332 CLEAN Program met with considerable demand
The early success of the program shows that commercial-scale solar has reached a form of “grid parity” for area ratepayers.
A new CLEAN Program launched by Imperial Irrigation District (IID), California’s 6thlargest utility, is off to a strong start. Since opening the program in September 2012, IID has received applications for new renewable energy capacity that more than doubles the program’s current size – signaling huge demand for WDG.
IID launched its 13 MW program in compliance with Senate Bill (SB) 1332. This Clean Coalition-sponsored law required California’s larger publicly owned utilities to initiate CLEAN Programs by July 1 of this year and pay developers full value for their energy, which includes locational and environmental benefits. IID’s CLEAN Program pricing averages 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour and prices rise as high as 10.4 cents for generation during peak hours.
The early success of IID’s program shows that WDG solar has reached a form of “grid parity” for IID ratepayers, where the full value pricing for renewables matches the cost for independent developers to deploy new generation. Despite SB 1332’s modest 13 MW program size requirement for IID, there is nothing preventing the utility from expanding its program to accommodate the proven demand to develop even more cost-effective clean local energy.