Will the CEC Take a Step Towards Closing the Door on Dirty Gas?

California is rushing into a clean energy future.

Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB350 into law, which requires utilities to procure at least 50 percent of their power from clean energy by 2030. This couldn’t happen at a more important moment for the future of the state. California just passed through a summer of extreme drought and tragic wildfires, two natural disasters that will only increase in frequency and severity as climate change gets worse. In order to preserve our state and its unique resources, California needs to employ each of the strategies identified by Governor Brown to combat climate change – ranging from reducing petroleum use; increasing renewable energy; and protecting and managing natural and working lands.

It is within that backdrop that the future of three gas plant proposals come before the California Energy Commission this week. Staff from the California Energy Commission recently filed motions to terminate proceedings for these plants totaling 1,747 MW of new gas proposed by NRG. The three plants are Sun Valley (located in Menifee, rural Riverside County); San Gabriel (urban Inland Empire/San Bernardino County); and Willow Pass (Pittsburgh). At this point, they have lingered at the Energy Commission for many years while NRG has sought to find emission reduction credits and a utility to buy the power.

These projects are extremely problematic. Take the San Gabriel Generating Station as an example, which is proposed for the site of the old and dirty Etiwanda Generating Station, a project that community activists have called on Southern California Edison to retire. This proposal sits on precious transmission capacity and sixty acres in a transmission constrained urban area; it would make far more sense to use it for local clean energy solutions that bring the kind of jobs that the local community wants.

According to CalEnviroScreen, Etiwanda’s surrounding neighborhood ranks in the 95th percentile for the most overburdened communities in the entire state. In the summer and fall of 2013, this region suffered from 182 “dirty air days” when smog was at levels high enough to endanger public health. During that same time period in 2014, the number increased to 193 days. These disturbing statistics detail one of the most polluted communities in California, and it should be no wonder why it’s been difficult for the applicant to get emission credits for San Gabriel.

On top of these existing issues lays the fact that the applications in question are no longer accurate. The information in these certifications was submitted up to nine years ago, during which time California has undergone monumental changes in air quality, traffic and water resources. At they stand, these certifications can no longer meet the most basic legal requirements to provide accurate information and a proper environmental baseline to the public.

Since the applications were originally certified, California has renewed its commitment many times over to clean energy, and has made tremendous progress in developing clean technologies. The role of gas in this evolved energy landscape has also changed drastically, with California now serving as a world leader in clean energy.

Letting these power plants linger on moves us backwards on clean energy and clean air goals at the precise moment that the state is moving forward. It’s time for the California Energy Commission to close the book on these dirty proposals when they vote on these projects this week.