1. C A L I F O R N I A E N E R G Y C O M M I S S I O N Integrated Energy Policy Report Workshop Landscape-Scale Environmental Evaluations for Energy Infrastructure Planning August 3, 2015 Renewable Energy Planning and Technical Support for Planning Processes Roger Johnson, Deputy Director Siting, Transmission & Environmental Protection Division California Energy Commission Roger.Johnson@Energy.ca.govRoger.Johnson@Energy.ca.gov (916) 654-5100

2. C A L I F O R N I A E N E R G Y C O M M I S S I O N 2014 IEPR Update Planning Activities Commission held 2014 IEPR workshop on the landscape-scale environmental considerations for energy infrastructure planning. Participants included government, utility, environmental and developer stakeholders. Broad stakeholder support for landscape-level planning for renewable generation and transmission infrastructure development. Support for also using landscape-level analytical tools, such as the Conservation Biology Institute’s Data Basin platform to perform landscape scale analysis. 2

3. C A L I F O R N I A E N E R G Y C O M M I S S I O N Renewable Energy Action Team (REAT) Renewable Project Database On behalf of the REAT, the Energy Commission developed and maintains a dataset of renewable energy projects. Includes information on project proposals, permitting and construction phases, start of commercial operations and the status of power purchase agreements. 503 proposed projects (1+MW) totaling 36,700 MW –214 projects with permits totaling 13,000 MW 64 projects with power purchase agreements totaling 3,300 MW Approximately 14,000 to 28,000 MW of new renewable generation needed to reach 50% RPS by 2030 (depending on mix of generation technologies of varying capacity factors). 3

5. C A L I F O R N I A E N E R G Y C O M M I S S I O N Current Landscape-Scale Environmental Studies for Infrastructure Planning Expanding environmental scoring metric used for previous CPUC and CAISO planning studies. Evaluating information and tools for performing landscape-scale environmental analysis. Working with local, state, and federal partners and other stakeholders to assess the data and tools available for performing landscape-scale analysis. Focusing beyond the DRECP area, including the Central Valley, other CA regions and western United States and potential international partners in the western interconnected grid. 5

6. C A L I F O R N I A E N E R G Y C O M M I S S I O N Activities to Advance Environmental Valuation Methodologies Modifying environmental valuation criteria to better reflect preferred development locations and risks for possible permit failures. Working with local government jurisdictions on geographic designations for renewable development (Renewable Energy and Conservation Planning Grants). Goal is to apply landscape-scale environmental valuation metrics to evaluate permit challenges for proposed renewable projects. Valuation metrics can help developers select project locations with low risks of permit failure and mitigation cost. 6

7. C A L I F O R N I A E N E R G Y C O M M I S S I O N Update on Technical Support for Energy Infrastructure Planning Activities Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan: –Technical collaboration with BLM on Phase 1 –Coordination with desert local agencies on development of Phase 2 Transmission project environmental feasibility study for CAISO: –CAISO requested assistance to evaluate environmental feasibility of 13 backup transmission alternatives to solve reliability issues due to SONGS closure and restoration of transfer capability for IID. –This is the first time the CAISO has considered routing and environmental analysis as part of the transmission planning process. Continued technical collaboration with CPUC and CAISO for energy infrastructure planning processes: –Energy Commission: Preparation of IEPR demand forecast and landscape-scale environmental evaluations for planning studies –CPUC: Long-Term Procurement Process to identify generation need for jurisdictional utilities and RPS Calculator enhancements for developing renewable portfolio scenarios –CAISO: Transmission Planning Process to identify transmission system upgrade requirements 7