2005 Environmental Performance Report of California's Electrical Generating System

Publication Number:    CEC-700-2005-016

Abstract:
This report assesses the environmental performance and related impacts of California's electric generation facilities and updates the status and trends that were initially reported in the 2001 and 2003 Environmental Performance Reports. In addition, as provided in section 25503(b) of the Public Resources Code, this report has been prepared in support of the Integrated Energy Policy Report.

The 2005 Environmental Performance Report provides an analytical basis for policy discussions and options that may be incorporated into the Integrated Energy Policy Report. Its findings will be presented at a series of public workshops on June 27 and 28, 2005. Interested parties are encouraged to review this staff report and to provide comments relating both to the report's content and to possible policy options that may follow from the environmental status and trends discussed in the report. Comment letters received on the Staff Draft version of this report will be produced, along with staff's responses, in late summer 2005.California's electricity is supplied by a wide range of generating facilities located throughout the state, the western United States, Western Canada, and the Northern Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. The 2001 Environmental Performance Report provided an initial evaluation of the environmental performance of the state's electric generating system from World War II to the year 2000. Environmental performance improved substantially during that time period, primarily due to switching from oil to natural gas, improvements in combustion technologies, and implementation of pollution controls. The 2003 Environmental Performance Report focused on the performance of the system between 1996 and 2002, during which time the changes from deregulation of the state's energy markets were enacted. The 2003 Environmental Performance Report improved the analytic methods and data sources from the first report, established a quantified 1996 environmental baseline, and identified lack of sufficient environmental data as a major hindrance for assessing changes in environmental performance. The 2003 Integrated Energy Policy Report adopted two policy options from the staff report: a policy change on the use of fresh water for power plant cooling, and encouragement of ongoing Energy Commission staff support to state agencies working on hydropower relicensing.

This 2005 Environmental Performance Report builds from the 2003 recommendations and substantially expands the range of topics analyzed by Energy Commission staff. Staff's goal is to focus more on policy level environmental issues that are of interest to policy makers and the public. As required by statute, staff continues to report on the status and trends of all the major environmental performance aspects of the state's large and diverse electricity supply system and its electric and natural gas transmission systems.New to this year's report are assessments of once-through cooling impacts to the marine environment and avian mortality from wind turbine collisions, plus a preliminary assessment of the environmental profile of out-of-state power imported to California markets. Each of these assessments is presented in a series of staff papers that are appended to the main report.In response to staff's concerns about the lack of environmental data, and at the Commission's direction, Energy Commission staff received environmental data on 453 power plants totaling 53,441 megawatts (MW) from private and public power generators that were used to begin creating a robust environmental data base and alleviate the data shortfalls identified in 2003. These data are used in the air quality, water use, and socio-economic sections, and will be used for the hydropower paper later in the year. Staff was unable to make full use of the data because of problems with timeliness of submittal and widely varying quality levels.

Author(s):  Jim McKinney

Commission Division:    Systems Assessment and Facility Siting Division (700)

Office/Program:    Electricity Office

PIER Program Area:   

Date Report Completed:    June 2005

Date On Line:    06/21/2005

Acrobat PDF File Size: 233 pages, 5,871 kilobytes**