The DEBA Program is seeking public comment on a draft solicitation concept for distributed energy resources for reliability. Comments are due March 15, 2024.
This “draft solicitation concept” document details the framework under consideration for a competitive grant solicitation for resources that will provide emergency supply or load reduction during extreme events through the Distributed Electricity Backup Assets (DEBA) Program as part of the state’s Strategic Reliability Reserve. The purpose of this competitive solicitation, or grant funding opportunity (GFO), is to incentivize the construction of cleaner and more efficient distributed energy resources (DERs) that increase supply or reduce (or shift) load to improve the reliability of the state's electrical grid. This solicitation can be referred to as the “DEBA DER GFO”.
As California transitions to a clean energy future and contends with climate impacts and other challenges, sufficient capacity of new and existing grid resources will be required to maintain reliability during extreme events. Due to the increased frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme weather events, the grid is more vulnerable and therefore needs greater investments in cleaner technologies, in alignment with the state’s clean energy goals, to bolster reliability. Applications for proposed projects selected through this GFO are expected to provide new capacity in the form of supply or load reduction that is incremental to the state’s resource adequacy supplies and existing strategic reliability reserves and improves grid reliability.
Successful projects are expected to begin deploying DER resources quickly, by Summer 2025 at the latest. Applicants interested in pursuing Department of Energy (DOE) loan programs should note that a CEC grant (including a grant from DEBA program) may contribute as a match for other Federal and State opportunities. The California Energy Commission has been identified as State Energy Financing Institution (SEFI) for the purposes of DOE’s Loan Program Office (LPO) Title 17 program; as such the CEC will consider an award under this GFO to be a meaningful contribution.
Match Funding
Applicants for projects in Group 1: Large DER Installations and Group 2: VPPs must include match funding for at least 50% of the total eligible project cost net of applicable tax credits.
Eligible Applicants and Projects
Three project types are eligible under this solicitation, which are categorized into three “Groups”:
Group 1 encompasses projects for Large DER Installations.
Group 2 encompasses virtual power plants (VPPs) with new DER installations.
Group 3 encompasses projects to develop and manage Load Flexibility Aggregation Programs.
For Group 1: Large DER Installations and Group 2: VPPs, eligible Applicants are any public and private entities that can develop and deploy DERs.
For Group 3: Load Flexibility Aggregation Programs, eligible applicants must be one or more California load serving entities (LSEs) or utilities or an entity under contract with one or more California LSE/utility and applying on behalf of the LSE/utility.
Please see the draft solicitation concept for further information on eligible technologies, minimum project capacity, performance requirements, and related information. The draft solicitation concept is available on the following webpage: https://www.energy.ca.gov/event/workshop/2024-03/public-workshop-distributed-electricity-backup-assets-deba-program.
Background
Assembly Bill (AB) 205 (Ting, Chapter 61, Statutes of 2022) created the Strategic Reliability Reserve to support the state’s electric grid reliability during extreme events. As part of the Strategic Reliability Reserve, the DEBA Program provides incentives for constructing cleaner and more efficient distributed energy assets. These distributed energy assets will serve as on-call emergency supply or load reduction for the state’s electrical grid during extreme events, such as heat waves. The DEBA Program also supports efficiency upgrades and capacity additions to existing bulk grid power generators in California that will support the state’s electrical grid during extreme events.
For more information about the DEBA Program, please visit the program webpage: https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/distributed-electricity-backup-assets-program
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