Campaign to fix Transmission Access Charges (TAC) gains support - Clean Coalition
High-voltage transmission towers against a cloudy sky at dusk, with industrial structures in the background.

Campaign to fix Transmission Access Charges (TAC) gains support

The charges are currently being misapplied to distributed generation facilities that serve local load and never use the transmission system.

Josh Valentine


The Clean Coalition’s campaign to remedy an unfair charge on local renewable energy in California is garnering support from a broad range oforganizations, as well asmedia attention.

Transmission Access Charges (TAC) are fees designed to pay for the state’s transmission grid and are applied to every kilowatt-hour of metered customer electric usage. While TAC make sense for energy delivered through the transmission system, they are currently being misapplied to distributed generation facilities that serve local load and never actually utilize transmission. This misapplication creates a major market distortion and disincentivizes growth of local clean energy.

On September 24, the Clean Coalitionfiled initial commentson the TAC issue with the California Energy Commission. Then, in November, we hosted aneducational webinarto raise interest in the issue andfiled commentsdirectly with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). Our comments were submitted with signatures of support from a few dozen individuals, advocacy groups, and other organizations who agree that action must be taken to spur further growth in local renewables.

Our growing list of supporters have all signed on to help fix the CAISO’s tariff languageto assess TAC on a utility’s transmission load. These organizations will help raise awareness of the benefits local renewable energy will receive from fixing the language.

Use of local energy should not continue to subsidize transmission infrastructure when these resources are actually reducing the need for future investments into the transmission system.

Individuals and organizations interested in supporting the TAC campaign should contact Josh Valentine atjosh@clean-coalition.org.

Josh Valentine

Communications Manager

Josh brings to the Clean Coalition a mindful approach to communications, digital outreach, and marketing. He previously ran his own business, Promenade Media, focused on communications and marketing for renewables and climate advocacy. In Maine, Josh headed up digital efforts for Maine Businesses for Sustainability and was president of the Maine Marketing Association for three consecutive terms. Josh leads digital communications and marketing initiatives for the Colorado Renewable Energy Society.