California Community Choice Aggregator’s Board Approves Long-Duration Storage Project PPA

April 11, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 11, 2023

The Board of Directors for the Clean Power Alliance, a California community choice aggregator, has approved a 15-year power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy Resources for a 75-megawatt long-duration standalone energy storage project.

The project is located at NextEra’s Desert Sands Energy Storage facility in Riverside County, California. CPA will begin storing and discharging energy from the facility in June 2026.

The project marks CPA’s first executed contract incorporating eight-hour storage capabilities. CPA’s other battery storage projects incorporate four-hour battery technologies.

In June 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a decision requiring load-serving entities, such as CPA, to increase procurement to address mid-term reliability concerns. As a result of this decision, CPA was required to procure a total of 679 MW of new reliable capacity between 2023 and 2026, including 59 MW of long-duration storage by 2026.

Founded in 2017, CPA is the locally operated not-for-profit electricity provider for 30 cities across Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as the unincorporated areas of both counties.