Least Cost and Emissions Power Procurement for Silicon Valley Clean Energy / Monterey Bay Clean Power (SVCE / MBCP)

In 2019, on behalf of SVCE and MBCP, Ascend conducted a joint resource solicitation and evaluation process for carbon free power supplies ("Joint RFP") in order to meet each entity's RPS requirements. Ascend developed a scoring rubric evaluating cost, location, risk, developer experience, impact on resource adequacy, on-peak delivery, and commercial operation date.

Ascend modeled individual bids for overall resource value (i.e., value of net energy plus ancillary services plus resource adequacy). Energy values were calculated mark-to-market against simulated values of the LMP price. Ascend then tested combinations of resources that met a minimum REC constraint through a process to calculate overall CAA portfolio Return | Risk combinations. The Return | Risk analysis incorporated an array of factors including: resource performance vs hourly load obligation, basis (locational price difference) between resources and DLAP, variability in production from resources, and forward and spot price uncertainty.

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