Balancing Resilience and Decarbonization in California Energy Policy

The risks of electricity outages caused by climate-related extreme weather including excessive heat, wildfires, storms, and public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) have significantly increased over the past several years. In response, California’s population of backup generators has grown rapidly. An analysis conducted by policy consultancy M.Cubed of the number and characteristics of back-up generators permitted in the Bay Area and South Coast air quality management districts found that the generator population jumped by 22 percent in South Coast over the last year, with 34 percent growth in less than three years in the Bay Area.

As California climate policy evolves, it seems clear that more attention needs to be placed on the expanding role of diesel generation. On California Clean Air Day, October 6th, Bloom Energy will feature voices working to bring attention to the impact of air quality on local communities and discuss policy and regulatory actions that can help reduce reliance on diesel applications as well as technologies that can help.

And while California leads in facing and solving these issues, their solutions will be applicable across the country as other areas start to face similar challenges in regulations and technology.

This session covers:

• Highlight findings from the recent M.Cubed Diesel study
• The impact of diesel proliferation on CA communities – and other regions to come
• Technology solutions to support resiliency and decarbonization
• Challenges and opportunities in the regulatory environment

Panelists:

• Moderator: Marisa Blackshire, Senior Director of Environmental Compliance and EH&S, Bloom Energy
• Marc Carrel, President and Chief Executive Officer, BREATHE Southern California
• Cindy Chavez, Chair of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Santa Clara County
• Steven Moss, Partner, M.Cubed
• Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director, Climate Resolve