Distribution Resources Plan

2017 Distribution Resources Plan RFO

The California Public Utilities Commission ("CPUC") directed PG&E to procure distribution services from third-party owned Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to demonstrate the capabilities of DERs in deferring traditional "wires" investments for two demonstration projects: "Demo C" and "Demo D". PG&E's Demo's C and D were proposed in Application (A.) 15-07-006. Demo D was approved via Decision (D.) 17-02-007 (the "DRP Demo D Decision") on February 16, 2017, and Demo C was approved via Decision (D.) 17-06-012 (the "DRP Demo C Decision") on June 19, 2017.

PG&E issued the 2017 Distributed Resources Plan (DRP) Demonstration Project D RFO on May 16, 2017 and is issuing the DRP Demonstration Project C RFO on August 14, 2017 to pilot the integration of DERs into utility distribution planning and operations at its Huron and El Nido substations, as required by the DRP Demo D Decision and the DRP Demo C Decision.

Demo Project C

The proposed location for this demonstration is PG&E's El Nido Substation, located within PG&E's Chowchilla distribution area. The El Nido Substation was selected due to the increasing potential for capacity overloads and the potential for DERs to provide distribution capacity services to mitigate overloads.

Demo Project D

The proposed location for this demonstration is PG&E's Huron Substation, located within PG&E's Gates distribution area. The Huron Substation was selected due to its high penetration of DERs against the area's distribution capacity.

Power Advocate instructions, registration information and offer submittal

Important information

All Participants who are interested in submitting a bid package into PG&E's DRP Demo D RFO will need to register with Power Advocate before submitting an offer into the RFO. To register at Power Advocate, click on the following link:

• DRP Demo C - El Nido Substation: https://www.poweradvocate.com/pR.do?okey=71695&pubEvent=true

• DRP Demo D - Huron Substation: https://www.poweradvocate.com/pR.do?okey=69550&pubEvent=true

Only those participants that have been accepted through the Power Advocate platform will be permitted to bid into this RFO. We encourage you to register now.

In addition to the submission of Offers through Power Advocate, Participants must simultaneously submit their offer materials to the IE on a USB flash-drive for physical delivery no later than one day following the Power Advocate offer submission deadline. The Participant’s flash-drive must contain the same materials that were submitted through Power Advocate and must be sent to the IE at the following address:

Sedway Consulting, Inc.

821 15^th Street

Boulder, CO 80302 PH: (303) 581-4172

Power Advocate instructions

All bid package materials must be submitted on the Power Advocate site by the schedule and time indicated above.

Download: Power Advocate Instructions (PDF, 226 KB)

Distribution and transmission information

The Generator Interconnection Procedure pursuant to the WDT and CAISO Tariff consists of three application processes: (1) The Fast Track Procedure for generators 5 MW (2 MW on 12kV, 3MW on 21kV, and 5MW on higher voltages) in size that pass the "Fast Track Screens" (2) the Independent Study Process for all generators that are electrically independent from another generator or cluster of generators, and (3) the Cluster Study Process for interconnection requests that do not qualify for the Fast Track Process or the Independent Study Process.

Under the CAISO Tariff and PG&E WDT Generator Interconnection Procedures, all interconnection requests under the Independent Study Process or Cluster Process may request interconnection as a "full capacity" resource. Please refer to PG&E's or CAISO's website for more details.

For more information about the interconnection process, please visit PG&E's Wholesale Generator Interconnections website. Sellers may also send an email to PG&E's Generation Interconnection Services at wholesalegen@pge.com.

Any application for interconnection to PG&E's can now be submitted through an online form available at the: pge.com/wholesale.

Integration Capacity Map

Integration Capacity results shown are meant to be indicative for DRP RFO participants, due to the assumption that Participants will interconnect and operate in accordance with the Restricted Periods defined in the Solicitation Protocol. Other customers wishing to interconnect to the Huron or Chowchilla distribution system are advised not to use these results as an indication of interconnection requirements and costs since these same customers’ interconnection facilities will not be operationally identical to the interconnection facilities of the RFO participants.

Additionally, government permitting procedures designed to minimize environmental and land use impacts are independent of PG&E’s interconnection process and may limit the suitability of a particular site, including sites that are highlighted in this map.

DRP Demo C - El Nido Substation

PG&E has developed an interactive Integration Capacity Map of the Chowchilla and Chico Distribution Planning Areas in accordance with the DRP Demonstration A completion requirements that can be used for Demo C.

Demo C RFO participants should follow the instructions below in order to properly site their solutions in such a way that contributes to solving the Distribution Need specified in the Demo C RFO:

• Select “Chowchilla” in the “Please Pick a DPA” drop-down menu.

• Select the “Feeder level (Polygon)” radio button then hover to the left-most polygons. These approximately outline the area being fed by the El Nido 1102 and El Nido 1104 distribution circuits.

• Select the “Line Level/ICA (Lines)” radio button then select any lines sections of interest to observe local Integration Capacity values for El Nido 1102 and El Nido 1104.

• Downloadable El Nido 1102 and El Nido 1104 feeder polygon shapefiles for RFO participants are provided here and can also be accessed from the map by selecting any line section. 

DRP Demo D - Huron Substation

PG&E has developed an interactive Integration Capacity Map of its service territory for Demo D .

For Demonstration D RFO participants, Integration Capacity results shown are only indicative of system impacts from future interconnections. System impacts are subject to change based on future updates to forecasting, distribution infrastructure upgrades, queued interconnection applications, and other dynamic aspects of the distribution system. Actual interconnection requirements and costs will be determined following interconnection studies that consider your specific project location, size and application date compared to other projects in the same vicinity.

Frequently asked questions

• DRP Demo C RFO General Program Questions (PDF, 88 KB)
• DRP Demo D RFO General Program Questions (PDF, 66 KB)
• Customer Acquisition Support FAQ (PDF, 226 KB)

Contact information

For information or questions about PG&E's DRP RFO please email: DRPRFO@pge.com.