State Water Project: renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources

The law gives the Department of Water Resources more flexibility in meeting the State Water Project’s zero-carbon electricity obligations while requiring a broader assessment of reliability and portfolio needs.

What the law does ​

• Requires the Department of Water Resources to consider portfolio diversity, resource type, location, and typical peak-operation hours when procuring clean electricity.
• Allows deferral until December 31, 2040, of replacement clean-energy procurement tied to certain fossil-generation contracts entered before January 1, 2011, when early termination would cause significant uneconomic costs.
• Starting in 2036, allows clean-energy procurement above the State Water Project’s annual load to count toward later annual obligations if its environmental and renewable attributes are retired and not sold or transferred.
• Requires sellers under new energy-generation procurement agreements to require construction contractors to use multicraft project labor agreements.

Who it affects ​

• Department of Water Resources and the State Water Project.
• Renewable, zero-carbon, and fossil-generation energy suppliers contracting with the department.
• Contractors building new energy-generation facilities supplying the State Water Project.