Letter to Stephen Berberich, President and CEO California Independent System Operator, and Michael Picker, President California Public Utilities Commission - Energy Reliability Plan

Letter

Dear Sirs:

As you know, much of the electricity used in the Los Angeles Basin is generated by natural gas and we would expect substantial electric demand during the coming summer months. I write out of concern for power reliability for the Los Angeles Basin as a result of the Aliso Canyon gas leak.

The Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility has in prior years played a critical role in ensuring that natural gas is available for electricity generation. It is unlikely that Aliso Canyon can play a similar role this coming summer, and it is important that we not engage in unsafe storage of natural gas at that facility.

Time is short. We are limited in the number of planning steps that can actually be implemented prior to the summer 2016. Still, I urge you to undertake all steps and use the authority granted by the Governor's Declaration of a State of Emergency to make sure that we do not face a choice between unsafe storage in Aliso Canyon on one hand, and a lack of electricity or reliability during the summer months on the other.

Among the many things that you might look at are the following: correct bottlenecks and otherwise modernize electrical transmissions systems so that the Los Angeles Basin can most effectively import electricity: sweep away regulatory and red tape bottlenecks that would prevents such electric transmission; address bottlenecks that might occur in the importation of natural gas to Southern California electric generation facilities; and determine whether any electric generation facilities could be modified to burn oil or other fuel rather than natural gas without undue environmental degradation.

The preceding paragraph lists several ideas some of which are mine, and some of which were brought to my attention by constituents and by those experts who briefed me on the situation. At this point, I cannot advocate for any of the alternatives set forth above, but I believe that you have the expertise to evaluate these and other ideas to make sure that the Aliso Canyon disaster does not have an adverse impact on electric reliability this summer.

In the event that federal permits or any other federal action is necessary to implement any reasonable plan designed to deal with electric reliability, or any other aspect of the Aliso Canyon disaster, please let me know so that I can encourage federal agencies to take appropriate action on an expedited basis.

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