Utilizing Storage Technology to Create Clean Energy

Southern Power, a leading U.S. wholesale energy provider meeting the electricity needs of municipalities, electric cooperatives, investor-owned utilities, and commercial and industrial customers, partnered with Balch & Bingham to navigate innovation in the energy industry.

Southern Power consulted Balch to address the legal issues associated with the development of two utility-scale, battery energy storage projects in California and integrating the large-scale deployment of batteries and other storage technologies into power system operations. 

Balch successfully counseled as legal advisor through all stages of the development of these projects, including negotiating various agreements in a highly regulated space in both state and federal jurisdictions. 

These agreements included energy storage service agreements (the battery storage version of power purchase agreements, regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), the engineering, procurement and construction agreements, the battery equipment supply agreements, and long-term services agreements to cover the projects’ life.

The battery energy storage projects at the Tranquillity and Garland solar facilities in California are now fully operational and are the first project of their kind for Southern Power. They will enhance California’s grid reliability by providing Southern California Edison and the California ISO with additional flexible resource capacity that will assist in further integrating intermittent renewable energy into the grid. At peak capacity, the Garland Solar Facility Battery Storage project will add 88 megawatts (MW) and 352 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy storage, while 72 MW and 288 MWh of energy storage will be added to the Tranquillity Solar Facility.  

These energy storage projects enhance the client’s growth strategy of developing and acquiring projects covered by long-term contracts with strong credit-worthy counterparties.

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