Demonstrating its commitment to invest in local clean energy during a time of economic uncertainty, Clean Power Alliance (CPA) today inked its first Energy Storage Agreement (ESA). Approved by the CPA Board of Directors on April 2nd, the 100MW Luna Storage standalone battery storage project is the largest ESA deal for a CCA in California and one of the largest in the entire state.

Clean Power Alliance is a locally operated electricity provider across serving approximately three million customers and one million customer accounts across 32 communities throughout Southern California, including Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The ESA project marks the continued evolution and increase in the scale of CPA's procurement efforts to fulfill the state's reliability needs without the use of fossil fuels. The 15-year agreement, which went from bid to contract execution in less than six months, demonstrates CPA's ability to meet fast-changing regulatory requirements and electrical grid dynamics. Late last year, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) required CPA to procure at least 98.4 MW of new capacity by 2021, a requirement that has now been surpassed with this ESA. Additional requirements for 2022 and 2023 will be fulfilled by future agreements that are currently under negotiation through CPA's 2019 Reliability Request for Offers.

The Luna Storage project, a 100-megawatt/400-megawatt hour standalone lithium ion battery storage project will be owned and operated by sPower, an independent power producer (IPP). Valued at more than $100 million, the project is located in the City of Lancaster, within Los Angeles County, and is expected to be operational by August 2021. It will allow CPA to cost-effectively integrate intermittent renewable energy resources into the grid and will also help enable the closure of gas-fired power plants located in CPA's local communities.

"sPower is committed to helping CPA and other CCAs achieve their clean energy future. We operate more than 1,200 MW of solar generation in California and are excited to partner with CPA to add new energy storage to the supply mix," said Hans Isern, Senior Vice President of Power Marketing, sPower. "This project will improve grid-resiliency and employ hardworking LA County union members, including those from the IBEW, Ironworkers, LiUNA and others."

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, sPower is a leading independent power producer (IPP) that owns and operates more than 150 renewable generation systems across the U.S. The company operates a wind, solar and storage portfolio of nearly 2.0 GW, with 15 GW of projects under development. sPower is owned by a joint venture partnership between The AES Corporation and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, one of Canada's largest and most diversified institutional investment managers.

Source: Clean Power Alliance