At the second annual cleantech conference at Hastings College of the Law (a U.C. school), Alex Morris, who runs advanced technology planning at Southern California Edison, told the crowd to study the implications of a recent decision by FERC. Under the new regulation, companies that put power-producing assets on the grid that exacerbate intermittent power delivery will be required to pay for the costs associated with ameliorating the situation.

In other words, if you have a solar or wind farm, you will have to buy storage systems to smooth out power production or invest in some other grid balancing technology. Existing wind and solar farms are grandfathered in, so you won’t have to retrofit them. We’re trying to get more on this, but thought for now it was interesting to note. It was the issue that brought the most questions from the audience at the event.