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California pushes back review of 2 gas plants until mid-2019

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California pushes back review of 2 gas plants until mid-2019

The California Energy Commission will wait for the outcome of Southern California Edison Co.'s search for storage, energy efficiency and renewable resources to continue review of two gas-fired power plants.

A commission committee overseeing a review of NRG Energy Inc.s 262-MW Puente power plant on May 31 agreed to continue to suspend that review until July 1, 2019. That same day, the panel also agreed to put on hold until July 1, 2019, review of the proposed Mission Rock Energy Center, a 275-MW gas-fired power plant with 25 MW of battery units for electricity storage proposed by a subsidiary of Calpine Corp.

In seeking the delays, developers of both projects pointed to the need to assess the impact of SoCalEd's ongoing search for resources to meet local capacity requirements in the Moorpark subarea of the Big Creek/Ventura local reliability area by 2021.

SoCalEd, an Edison International subsidiary, is expected in March 2019 to announce the results of a solicitation for what the state defines as preferred resources, such as energy efficiency, demand response and renewable resources, to meet those needs. As part of that solicitation, the utility will also consider energy storage proposals and offers for natural gas projects that are 55 MW or less in the Goleta area.

In the NRG order, the committee said continuing to suspend the case preserves the work that has already been done by staff, the company and other interested groups to consider the application to build the gas-fired power plant in Oxnard, Calif., which is referred to by S&P Global Market Intelligence as the Mandalay Generating Station CT (Puente Power Project).

The committee also said the solicitation by SoCalEd "will develop important information about whether the proposed project, in its present form or in a modified form, is necessary to fill a local reliability need in the Moorpark subarea."

The panel initially put the case on hold in November 2017 and set an end date of May 1. But in April, NRG asked for an extension.

NRG in October 2017 asked for the Puente proceedings to be put on hold while the company considered whether to withdraw its application. That request came after the committee indicated that it would recommend rejection of the project. (California Energy Commission Docket No. 15-AFC-01)

Mission Rock Energy Center LLC in March asked the panel to suspend review of its project proposed to be built near Santa Paula, Calif. In approving that request, the committee said there is "sufficient cause" to suspend the case until the results of the SoCalEd solicitation are known. (Docket No. 15-AFC-02)

Some environmental groups and civic leaders have argued that the panel should reject the proposed plants outright, but the committee has thus far rejected those requests.

While agreeing to keep the matters on hold for another year, the committee called for both developers to file status reports in October 2018 and April and June 2019.