The ISO or RTO for California is known as CAISO.

FERC: West Natural Gas Region

Deregulated California

California State Summary

California Utility Summary

California

The Golden State

A small green rectangle to divide sections of the document

CA Utilities

IOU, Municipal, Cooperative, Retail Energy Suppliers, Wholesale

 California Consumer Choice: Consumer Deregulation

Utility: Consumers in California may choose their electric and natural gas supplier.

California Electric Choice: Yes. Consumers in parts of California may choose their electric retail energy provider through a limited lottery program known as Direct Access. Buyers who reduce bills and fix overhead costs by choosing an alternate supplier still receive a bill from their local distribution company ( LDC ). 

A small green rectangle to divide sections of the document

California Gas Choice: Yes. Natural gas is deregulated in California for industrial and commercial consumers through a program called Core Aggregation; verification is required. 

Deregulated Gas Year Electric Year

California Yes 1995 Yes* N/A *California’s electric choice program is known as DirectAcccess.

A small green rectangle to divide sections of the document

STATE NERC INTERCONNECTION ISO/RTO

California WECC Western CAISO

Region: West Coast

California Population: 39,512,223 People/ Land Mile: 241

Square Miles: 163,707 Land Miles: 155,973 Water Miles: 7,734

Yearly Values:

Net Generation 195,265,408 MWH Retail Sales 255,224,272 MWH Gas 2,208 trillion Btu

Counties CA Zip Codes CA Utility Zip Codes

A small green rectangle to divide sections of the document

NERC Authority: WECC

FERC Authority: West Natural Gas Region

Electric Retail Average:  16.58 cents/kWh (Ave)

California Power Mix

U.S. Commodity Sources 2019: 

Coal: 0.1%

Natural gas: 42.4%

Nuclear: 7.9%

Hydro: 19.5%

Geothermal: 5.6%

Solar PV: 14%

Biomass: 3.2%

Wind: 7.3%

2013 U.S. Commodity Sources:

Coal: 1%

Natural gas: 59%

Nuclear: 9%

Hydro: 12%

• Other Renewables: 18%

A small green rectangle to divide sections of the document

CA Solar: Net Metering, Tax Credits, Solar Rebates

A small green rectangle to divide sections of the document

State Rebates:

State Contacts:

A small green rectangle to divide sections of the document

State Links:

Talk

State Authorities:

California Public Utilities Commission

California Division of Ratepayer Advocates

REP Contacts: 

Return to Table of Contents

Return to The Energy Professor

Talking About

Onsite Energy