Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Grid Mitigation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
PUC mitigation deal with NorthStar Solar put on reserve; committee requires oversight for spending over $100,000
Summary
The Public Utilities Commission asked the Budget and Finance Committee to authorize a system impact mitigation agreement with NorthStar Solar, initially estimated at $2.9 million, and the committee agreed to place funds on committee reserve pending PUC reports and set a $100,000 threshold for supervisory review of expenditures.
Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager for water at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, presented a mitigation agreement the PUC seeks with NorthStar Solar to cover the PUC's estimated costs to mitigate impacts from interconnecting new solar generation to the electric transmission system.
"They're proposing to build a 60 megawatt solar generating facility," Ritchie said, and noted the PUC's preliminary mitigation estimate for the project cluster is roughly $2.9 million. He explained mitigation funds would be used for transmission upgrades including relay protection devices and switches to avoid disturbances to the system when new generation is connected.
The budget analyst reported the PUC's initial figure was about $2.968 million and recommended placing those funds on committee reserve pending more detailed expenditure plans. The analyst also flagged the possibility of many interconnection agreements in the future, estimating a cumulative mitigation need of about $28.3 million if multiple projects proceed.
Committee members debated oversight mechanisms. The amended approach agreed in committee places initial mitigation funds on the Budget and Finance Committee reserve and requires the PUC to return with expenditure details; the committee also adopted a procedure that funds in excess of $100,000 for a given mitigation agreement be subject to committee review or periodic reporting so supervisors can oversee how mitigation receipts are spent.
The committee voted to send the amended mitigation resolution forward with recommendation. PUC staff said they would report to the board and work with the controller's office to provide timely expenditure reports.
