Dive Brief:

• Southern California Edison has issued a request for proposals seeking almost 105 MW of renewable energy, split roughly between a new “Green Rate” program and resources to meet state renewables targets.
• 50 MW will be allocated to the Green Tariff Shared Renewables program, aimed at giving customers of the state's investor-owned utilties access to solar energy even if they cannot install it themselves.
• SCE also recently issued a request for storage proposals, targeting smaller installations that can be constructed uniformly off-site and installed quickly.

Dive Insight:

Southern California Edison has issued a pair of proposals recently which illustrate where the utility thinks storage and renewable power technologies are heading. It is asking vendors to devise smaller, more flexible storage projects and is developing renewable generation with smaller capacity sizes as well.

Last week the utility launched its sixth Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM) solicitation, calling for renewable projects between 3 MW and 20 MW  for renewable electricity as part of its program to procure resources sized between 3 and 20 megawatts. The 54.8 MW being sought would go towards RAM procurement targets.

Another 50 MW of solar resources would back the utility's Green Rate program, a part of the Green Tariff Shared Renewables program created for the state's utilities. The deadline for submitting offers is Aug. 21.

“Not only are we making progress toward the California Renewables Portfolio Standard goal of delivering 33% renewable power by 2020, but with this solicitation we also intend to provide customers who cannot otherwise install solar on their roof an option to source their energy demands directly from solar resources,” Colin Cushnie, SCE vice president of energy procurement and management, said in a statement.

Offers for the Green Rate program must be for new solar-generating facilities ranging from 0.5 MW to 20 MW; the utility said “environmental justice projects” will also be considered. 

SCE has also issued a separate RFP for new "just-in-time" battery storage proposals designed to be constructed and installed quickly. The plug-and-play systems proposals would range from 1 MWh to 16 MWh, and the utility is seeing between 5 and 10 systems ranging from 2 MW to 8 Mwh. The utility reportedly wants batteries that can be built, shipped, installed and functioning within 7 months of contracting. 

"I think it’s the first time anyone has done what you’d call a framework agreement for energy storing purchasing," Mark Irwin, SCE’s advanced technology department director, said in an interview with Greentech Media. "It’s a faster move towards catalog or off-the-shelf purchasing for energy storage systems. When utilities decide to buy multiple products, this is how they decide to buy them."