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United States. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Requests Additional Information from Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a deficiency letter to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) requesting additional information regarding the authorization to record and recover abandoned plant costs associated with its Dinuba Battery Energy Storage System. The commission's office of energy market regulation issued the letter on July 14, 2025, in response to PG&E's filing on May 15, 2025, seeking to recover $602,472 in prudently incurred abandoned plant costs. The FERC is seeking detailed information on how the Dinuba Battery Energy Storage System was planned to be operated and configured to serve a transmission function, as well as various other operational and financial aspects of the project.

Key Takeaways:

  • The FERC has requested additional information from PG&E regarding its Dinuba Battery Energy Storage System, which was approved by the California Independent System Operator Corporation (CAISO) in 2017-2018 and modified in 2019-2020.
  • The commission is seeking explanations on how the system was planned to be operated and configured, as well as details on incidental revenues, energization, charging and discharging operations, and accounting for such operations.
  • PG&E must provide the required information within 30 days of the letter's date and make an amendment filing in accordance with the Commission's electronic tariff requirements.
  • Failure to respond to the deficiency letter within the specified timeframe may result in an order rejecting the filing.
  • The FERC has cited 18 C.F.R. SS 375.307 (a) (1)(v) and 18 C.F.R. SS 385.713 as the basis for the deficiency letter.
  • The case will not be assigned a new filing date until receipt of the amendment filing, and a notice of amendment will be issued upon receipt of the response.

Statistics:

  • The Firefly was designed to recover $602,472, which represents 50% of approximately $1.2 million in prudently incurred abandoned plant costs.
  • The California Independent System Operator Corporation (CAISO) approved the Reedley 70kV Reinforcement Project, including a 7-megawatt (MW), 4-hour duration energy storage device, in 2017-2018.
  • The CAISO identified additional reliability concerns in the Reedley Area in 2019-2020 and recommended resizing the Project from 7 MW to 12 MW.

Sources:

1. FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, DC 20426 OFFICE OF ENERGY MARKET REGULATION

In Reply Refer To: Pacific Gas and Electric Company Docket No. ER25-2238-000

2. Pacific Gas and Electric Company 300 Lakeside Drive Oakland, CA 94612

3. California Independent System Operator Corporation 2017-2018 Transmission Plan

4. California Independent System Operator Corporation 2019-2020 Transmission Plan

5. 18 C.F.R. SS 375.307 (a) (1)(v)

6. 18 C.F.R. SS 385.713

7. Duke Power Company, 57 FERC P 61,215 (1991)

8. Electronic Tariff Filings, 130 FERC P 61,047, at P 3-8 (2010)

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