ACCELERATING CARBON REDUCTIONS FROM CALIFORNIA’S ELECTRICITY SECTOR

The document proposes replacing California's current electricity sector policies with a system-wide carbon standard and per capita energy intensity standards for electricity and natural gas. It argues that the existing Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and Efficiency Savings and Performance Incentive (ESPI) are insufficient for long-term goals due to siloed procurement and overly conservative efficiency targets. Key recommendations include a 2030 carbon standard of 393lb. CO2e/MWh, a 50 percent renewable energy procurement "backbone," and a performance-based energy standard targeting a 1.2 percent annual reduction in kWh/capita. The report also suggests expanding the Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) to a West-wide scale and expediting the implementation of AB 758 for existing buildings.

• The report recommends California implement a system-wide carbon standard by 2030 set at 393lb. CO2e/MWh (or 48.9MMT CO2e), utilizing interim targets with financial incentives and penalties to motivate utilities.
• To maintain investment signals for renewable energy developers, the report proposes a 50 percent renewable energy procurement "backbone" to accompany the carbon standard through 2030.
• The current Efficiency Savings and Performance Incentive (ESPI) is deemed inadequate because it relies on conservative market potential and complex measure-specific savings estimates that discourage utility buy-in.
• The report proposes replacing the ESPI with a performance-based energy standard targeting a reduction in a utility's kWh/capita by approximately 1.2 percent annually through 2030.
• A comparable per capita standard for natural gas (therms/capita) is recommended to incentivize building electrification and the decarbonization of the gas supply.
• To avoid disincentivizing the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), the proposed kWh/capita standard should include an adjustment mechanism that nets out EV load growth using vehicle registration data and average use rates.
• The report suggests expanding the Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) to a West-wide electricity market to increase geographical diversity of resources and reduce the need for costly peaking generators.
• The authors recommend expediting the implementation of AB 758 (Comprehensive Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings law) and suggest introducing mandatory retrofit policies if voluntary progress is too slow.
• The report argues that resource procurement should be reformed to allow demand-side, distributed, and centralized low-carbon resources to compete on equal footing to provide grid flexibility.

APA

Orvis, R., O’Boyle, M., Aggarwal, S., & Harvey, H. (2015). ACCELERATING CARBON REDUCTIONS FROM CALIFORNIA’S ELECTRICITY SECTOR. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015_CA_ElectricityPolicy_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Orvis, Robbie, Michael O’Boyle, Sonia Aggarwal, and Hal Harvey. ACCELERATING CARBON REDUCTIONS FROM CALIFORNIA’S ELECTRICITY SECTOR. Energy Innovation, 2015. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015_CA_ElectricityPolicy_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Orvis |first1=Robbie |last2=O’Boyle |first2=Michael |last3=Aggarwal |first3=Sonia |last4=Harvey |first4=Hal |title=ACCELERATING CARBON REDUCTIONS FROM CALIFORNIA’S ELECTRICITY SECTOR |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=March 2015 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015_CA_ElectricityPolicy_FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{orvis2015accelerating, author = {Orvis, Robbie and O’Boyle, Michael and Aggarwal, Sonia and Harvey, Hal}, title = {{ACCELERATING CARBON REDUCTIONS FROM CALIFORNIA’S ELECTRICITY SECTOR}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015_CA_ElectricityPolicy_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }