California Braces for Fire, Massive Storage Deployments

In this episode of Grid Talk, Host Marty Rosenberg talks with
Elliot Mainzer who is the President and CEO of the California
Independent System Operator (ISO). The discussion focuses on the
effort to bring on more renewable generation in California and
what that means for the delivery of energy. Battery storage will
play a significant role in meeting peak demand.


“The next five to seven years, California is going to be bringing
on a monumental amount of new supply into the system. The amount
of storage on the California grid this summer is going to be one
of the largest in the world,” said Mainzer.


Mr. Mainzer also talks about what’s ahead for the evolving energy
market in the West including the need for additional generation
and new infrastructure.


“There’s just no way we’re going to be able to meet our clean
energy objectives reliably without additional transmission
resource diversification.”


The podcast ends with a discussion about the ongoing drought in
the Southwest and the threat to the grid from wildfires.


Elliot Mainzer took over as the President and Chief Executive
Officer of the California Independent System Operator in
September of 2020, following an 18-year career at the Bonneville
Power Administration. The ISO is responsible for managing the
flow of electricity that serves 80 percent of California and a
small portion of Nevada. 


Mr. Mainzer earned his bachelor’s degree in geography from the
University of California, Berkeley. He has an MBA and Master of
Environmental Studies degree from Yale University.