Talk of a Western RTO continued at the 11th annual gathering of the Western Power Issues Roundtable, after several shakeups in the Western Interconnection.

California’s three investor-owned utilities want lawmakers to limit their liability for wildfires sparked by power lines.

CPUC President Michael Picker told California lawmakers that the commission is increasingly focused on wildfire prevention.

CAISO EIM officials approved a proposal to prevent market participants outside Ca. from skirting the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) compliance obligations.

The CAISO regionalization bill that would transform CAISO into an RTO passed another key California State Senate committee.

A California Senate committee advanced a bill that would allow CAISO to be transformed into a Western RTO, a change that has been met with heavy opposition.

The California State Senate passed legislation that would allow the state’s investor-owned utilities to pass through the costs of wildfires to ratepayers.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) authorized the state’s investor-owned utilities to recover $738 million for electric vehicles (EV) charging infrastructure.

Trees contacting Pacific Gas and Electric distribution lines caused four Northern California wildfires last year that burned about 9,400 acres, state investigators said.

California will need between 229,000 and 279,000 electric vehicle chargers at locations other than single-family homes by 2025, the California Energy Commission said.