California RPS Integration Study: Phase I Summary and Results; Preprint

California's recently enacted Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS, Senate Bill 1078) requires the state's investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to increase the renewable portion of their energy mix, with a goal of 20% renewable energy generation by 2017. Renewable generation projects will compete with each other to supply the IOUs, with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) establishing a process to select the''least-cost, best-fit'' projects. The California Energy Commission (CEC), in support of the CPUC, organized a team to study integration costs in the context of RPS implementation. The analysis team, collectively referred to as the Methods Group, consists of researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and staff members from the California Independent System Operator, Dynamic Design Engineering, and the California Wind Energy Collaborative. This RPS Integration Study is motivated by the RPS's ''least-cost, best-fit'' bid selection criterion, which requires that indirect costs be considered in addition to the energy bid price when selecting eligible renewable projects. This paper summarizes the key results from the Phase I report. Specific issues examined in the report include capacity credit, regulation impacts and costs, and preliminary load-following impacts via the supplemental energy market in California. We also discuss the status of the RPS Integration Study and some implications for wind integration in other U.S. electric power markets.