Powering California's Future: California Energy Commission Significantly Expands EPRI Membership

Business Wire, June 24, 1999

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 1999--

The California Energy Commission voted 5-0 today to provide Californians with cleaner, safer, more reliable and affordable energy in a deregulated era, by moving to expand its membership in EPRI, the collaborative science and technology development organization for the power industry.

With this decision, the Energy Commission added 23 areas of science and technology to the seven funded when the Commission first became a member of EPRI last September.

"Our initial EPRI investments on behalf of California ratepayers are delivering quantifiable present and future public benefits to all classes of ratepayers," said Dr. David Rohy, the Energy Commission's Vice Chair. "With this expanded level of involvement, Californians will receive a wide range of benefits in the areas of lower cost power, a cleaner environment, and more reliable service."

Clark Gellings, EPRI's Vice President of Client Relations, added: "An important aspect of this expansion is the many California-specific projects that EPRI will conduct in partnership with the Energy Commission. Roughly one quarter of the funds will be matched by EPRI to deliver energy research projects specifically designed to address California's needs."

This $11.7 million approval represents less than 5 percent of the Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research program's four-year budget, authorized under California's restructuring legislation. The Energy Commission's contribution joins roughly $150 million of EPRI's other members' funding of these research areas.

The California Energy Commission is the state's primary energy policy and planning agency, charged with ensuring a reliable, clean, and affordable energy supply. Created by the Legislature in 1974 and located in Sacramento, the Commission has five major responsibilities: forecasting future energy needs, siting and licensing power plants, promoting energy efficiency, developing advanced energy technologies, and planning for and directing state response to energy emergencies. Notably, the Commission is also responsible for public interest energy research in the newly deregulated electricity market.

EPRI, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., was established in 1972 as a center for public interest energy and environmental research. Focusing on energy, electric power, and environmental science and technology, the organization is funded by its members and others interested in supporting a given area of research. EPRI is rapidly expanding internationally to serve an increasingly interconnected global economy.

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Visit our website at www.epri.com