REINVENTING FIRE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The report argues that distributed and demand-side resources—including energy efficiency, demand response, and solar PV—can fill the near-term supply gap created by the shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) while supporting California's long-term greenhouse gas reduction goals. It evaluates various resources based on size, cost, deployment speed, and persistence, recommending the creation of capacity markets and the streamlining of permitting and interconnection processes to accelerate adoption.

• The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), which provided 19% of Southern California's electricity in 2011, was shut down in January 2012 following the discovery of a radioactive gas leak and severe atypical wear in steam tubes.
• Distributed energy resources are categorized by their ability to address short-term reliability. Behavioral savings and demand response are noted for fast deployment and low to medium costs, while solar PV offers a large resource size but higher costs. Storage and combined heat and power (CHP) are characterized by slower deployment times.
• Demand response is significantly underutilized in California; while the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission estimated a potential of 8,795 MW (nearly 13% of system peak), programs in 2010 only captured 2,400 MW (about 5% of system peak).
• Energy efficiency remains a substantial untapped resource in Southern California, with the remaining potential estimated at about 20% of total energy demand in investor-owned utilities' service territories.
• Solar PV has high technical potential in Southern California, with costs decreasing by more than 60% since 2000 to approximately $3.50 per watt, though regulatory 'white tape' can delay installation approval by up to a year and increase costs by 15% or more.
• To accelerate the adoption of distributed resources, the report recommends that California create capacity markets similar to PJM and New England ISO, implement differentiated incentives based on grid value, and standardize permitting and interconnection procedures.

APA

RMI (n.d.). REINVENTING FIRE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2012-11_RFSoCal.pdf

Chicago

RMI. REINVENTING FIRE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2012-11_RFSoCal.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=REINVENTING FIRE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2012-11_RFSoCal.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmindreinventing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{REINVENTING FIRE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2012-11_RFSoCal.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }