Newly amended legislation urges California power
regulators to encourage the use of geothermal power to help meet the state’s
renewable energy targets, with a long-term goal of generating money to repair
the Salton Sea.
The ailing desert lake, which straddles Riverside and
Imperial counties, has steadily shrunk and will lose its largest remaining
supply of water in four years. Yet virtually nothing has happened on the $8.9
billion restoration plan unveiled in 2007 to solve the sea’s environmental
problems.
While the sea lacks for water and billions of dollars from
the state, experts say the area around the sea has major geothermal energy
potential. Geothermal plants in the Imperial Irrigation District produce about
600 megawatts, enough power for about 134,000 homes, and there are another
estimated 2,000 megawatts untapped.
Supporters of the new measure say it would help the state
reach its 2020 renewable energy threshold, as well as higher targets that have
been proposed for subsequent years. In addition, they say, more geothermal
sources would help make up for the loss of power from the San Onofre nuclear
power plant.
“I don’t think geothermal has been elevated to the degree
that it should,” said Assemblyman V. Manuel Perez, D-Coachella, whose district
includes the sea and who is a co-author of the newly amended bill, Senate Bill
760. “That’s all we’re asking for, just to create a more equal playing field at
the (California Public Utilities Commission.)”
A commission spokesman was unavailable to comment about the
measure Tuesday, Sept. 3.
The Salton Sea already is too salty for many fish and will
shrink significantly after 2017 when a state-approved transfer shifts water
intended for Imperial Valley farmers to San Diego. The state Department of
Water Resources has warned that restoration measures need to be in place by
then.
It’s unknown how much money a larger Salton Sea-area
geothermal industry could produce for those efforts. That would be figured out
later, officials said.
“These are very large numbers,” Riverside County Supervisor
John Benoit, whose district covers the sea’s northern half, said of the cost of
restoring the sea. “But geothermal has a huge potential for being part of the
solution at the Salton Sea.”
The legislation emerged late Friday, less than two weeks
before the end of the legislative session and was referred Monday to the
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee. A hearing date has not been set.
V. John White, the executive director of the Center for Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, the group leading support for the bill,
said geothermal backers have a strong case to make.
California law requires 33 percent of the state’s energy to
come from renewable sources by the end of 2020. Solar and wind power dominate
the current mix of renewables. Such sources have been less expensive to develop
and there also is a lack of transmission capacity in the state’s
geothermal-rich southeastern corner.
Solar power is highest during the day and begins to taper
off just as people return home from work and turn on their appliances. Wind
power can fluctuate. In both cases, fossil fuels have to make up the difference
between renewable supply and demand.
Geothermal power, supporters say, never fluctuates and could
reduce the need for new natural gas-powered plants.
“It’s not as a set-aside, not a mandate,” White said of the
bill. “Our view is we need to balance the portfolio with geothermal and this
bill is a way to start the conversation at the PUC.”
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