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4 Environmental Analysis <br /> 4.6 Energy <br /> 4.6 ENERGY <br /> This section identifies and evaluates issues related to energy in the context of the Griffith Energy <br /> Storage Project (Project). It includes the physical and regulatory setting, the criteria used to <br /> evaluate the significance of potential impacts, the methods used in evaluating these impacts, and <br /> the results of the impact assessment. A Project-specific energy evaluation was completed using <br /> information from the Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Technical Report for the Project, included <br /> as Appendix D to this Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The results of the energy <br /> evaluation are included below. San Joaquin County (County) did not receive any scoping <br /> comments related to energy. <br /> 4.6.1 Existing Conditions <br /> This section provides an evaluation of existing energy production and consumption conditions <br /> and potential energy use and related impacts from the Project. Total energy usage in California <br /> was 6,923 trillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2020 (the most recent year for which specific data <br /> are available), which equates to an average of 175 million Btu per capita. These figures place <br /> California second among the nation's 50 states in total energy use and 48th in per capita <br /> consumption (EIA 2021). <br /> 4.6.1.1 State Energy Supply <br /> Electricity needs in California are satisfied by various entities, including publicly owned utilities, <br /> investor-owned utilities, electric service providers, and choice aggregators. In 2021 (the last year <br /> for which updated information is available), total system electricity generation for California was <br /> 277,764 gigawatt-hours (GWh), up 2 percent from 2020's total generation of 272,576 GWh. In <br /> 2021, California's in-state electricity generation was derived from natural gas (50.2 percent); <br /> nuclear (8.5 percent); large hydro (6.2 percent); oil and coal (less than 1 percent); and renewable <br /> resources that include geothermal, biomass, small hydroelectric resources, wind, and solar(34.8 <br /> percent). Of the approximately 194,127 GWh generated from renewable sources in the state, <br /> solar-generated electricity made up the highest proportion (49 percent), followed by wind (23 <br /> percent), geothermal (16 percent), biomass (8 percent), and small hydroelectric (4 percent) (CEC <br /> 2021). <br /> Local Energy Supply—Pacific Gas and Electric <br /> Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is an investor-owned utility company that provides electricity <br /> supplies and services to approximately 16 million people throughout a 70,000-square-mile service <br /> area that includes San Joaquin County and extends from Eureka in the north to Bakersfield in the <br /> south, and from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. <br /> PG&E provides electricity to the 6 million customers in its service territory, including residential, <br /> commercial, industrial, and agricultural consumers. In 2020, PG&E generated and/or procured a <br /> total of 35,838 GWh of electricity.' Of this total, PG&E owns approximately 7,662 MW of <br /> ' This amount excludes electricity provided to direct access customers and Community Choice Aggregation entities <br /> who procure their own supplies of electricity. <br /> Griffith Energy Storage Project 4.6-1 Tetra Tech/SCH 2022120675 <br /> Draft Environmental Impact Report August 2023 <br />