What is the Commissions role in encouraging the use of wind energy?
In general, the Commission’s policies (including for interconnection) are neutral as to fuel source with the Commission’s focus being on ensuring that interconnection policies are non-discriminatory. However, the Commission has made adjustments to its policies to ensure that they do not disadvantage intermittent resources such as wind by creating special rules/exceptions in the areas of small generator interconnection, penalties related to energy imbalance, and transmission pricing. For example, in April 2007, the Commission approved an innovative proposal by the California Independent System Operator, Inc. designed to facilitate the development of certain location-constrained resources, including wind, geothermal and solar generation. The Commission has also established an Energy Innovations Sector to help the Commission learn more about new emerging issues associated with renewables and climate change.
