California To Buy Out-Of-State Wind to Meet Renewable Energy Requirements

In an effort to fulfill their deadline of 20% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) by 2010, the state of California is resorting to purchasing wind power from Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington. This tactic is running counter to the California Public Utilities Commission's goal of increasing "green collar jobs" locally, but is boosting the wind production industry outside California.

The California Division of Ratepayer Advocates has been challenging the Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) since they were proposed in 2008, stating that "unbundled or tradable RECs" can cause damage because they "endanger the credibility of the RPS when the unbundled or tradable RECs from renewable energy facilities in nearby states are attached to electricity imports from coal power plants.”

State bureaucracy is blamed for the stall in implementing RPS projects that would have helped meet the quota by the deadline.  According to a report titled "Barriers to RPS Project Developement" despite the approval of over 7,000MW of RPS, the procurement process is slowing progress because of delays aquiring the "permits from the county, the CEC, air quality districts...the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)" necessary to proceed.