2023 Clean Energy & Reliability RFO

Clean Power Alliance of Southern California (CPA), the fourth largest energy provider in California, is soliciting competitive proposals to meet its portfolio needs and achieve compliance with various California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Procurement Orders and Resource Adequacy requirements.

Relative to prior CPA RFOs, CPA’s 2023 Clean Energy and Reliability RFO has expanded product categories, and now includes Resource Adequacy (RA) Only and Thermal Energy Resources. Additionally, CPA has implemented a number of changes to RFO eligibility requirements such as expanding term limits and allowing proposers to make bundled offers. Please note that for resources located outside of the CAISO grid, CPA will only accept offers that deliver at interties specified in section 3.C of the RFP document.

CPA's 2023 Clean Energy and Reliability RFO seeks offers from the following product categories:

1. Renewable Generation Only Contracts:

• Mid-term Reliability (MTR) Eligible Baseload/Firm Renewable Energy:   Zero emissions generation capacity or capacity that is eligible under the requirements of California's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program and has an expected annual capacity factor of at least 80%. The resources must not be use-limited or weather-dependent and must meet all requirements for Baseload/Firm renewable energy under the CPUC Mid-Term Reliability Decision 21-06-035. No storage projects shall qualify under this product category. Projects in this category should have a generation size of 5 MW – 500 MW and a commercial operation date (COD) no later than June 1, 2028. PPA tenor must be between 10 and 20 years.
• Regular RPS Resources: RPS-eligible generation (e.g. solar, wind, geothermal), 5 MW – 500 MW in size. Projects in this category must have a commercial operation date no later than June 1, 2028. CPA has a strong preference for projects with an earlier COD. PPA tenor must be between 10 and 20 years.

2. Renewable Generation Plus Storage Contracts:
3. RPS-eligible generation (5 MW – 500 MW) paired with storage projects (5 MW – 500 MW). The storage duration must be at least 4 hours and the capacity cannot exceed 100% of the generation nameplate capacity. Projects in this category must have a commercial operation date no later than June 1, 2028. PPA tenor must be between 10 and 20 years.

3. Standalone Storage Contracts:

2. Stand-alone storage projects with a storage capacity of 5 MW – 500 MW. The storage duration must be for at least 4 hours. Projects in this category must have a commercial operation date no later than June 1, 2028. PPA tenor must be between 10 and 20 years.

4. RA Only Contracts:

1. RA-only projects from storage, thermals, or other qualifying resources with a capacity between 5 MW –500 MW. Projects in this category must have a commercial operation date no later than June 1, 2028. PPA tenor must be between 5 and 15 years.

5. Dispatchable Thermal Energy with RA Contracts:

• Existing Dispatchable Gas projects (with RA): These may include gas fired generation resources such as combined cycle (CC), combustion turbines (CT), reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE), combined heat and power (CHP), or steam turbine (ST) projects. The project size must be at least 10 MW with a commercial operation date no later than January 1, 2027, The PPA tolling tenor must be between 2 and 10 years.
• Existing Dispatchable Gas projects (with RA) paired with storage: These may include gas fired generation resources such as CC, CT, RICE, CHP, or ST projects that are paired with storage (minimum 1 hour) in order to reduce greenhouse gas and emissions that impact local air quality. The project size must be at least 10 MW with a commercial operation date no later than January 1, 2027. The PPA tolling tenor must be between 2 and 10 years.
• Existing Dispatchable Gas projects (with RA) running on blended fuels: These may include gas fired generation resources such as CC, CT, RICE, CHP, or ST projects that use a green hydrogen or renewable biogas blend in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project size must be at least 10 MW with a commercial operation date no later than January 1, 2027. The PPA tolling tenor must be between 2 and 10 years.

Mandatory data templates for submitting offers are available below. Projects will be evaluated on a combination of quantitative and qualitative factors that include economic value, development risk, workforce development, environmental stewardship, benefits to Disadvantaged Communities, and project location.