The scheme essentially puts the final say-so for permitting in the hands of the Commission, although the process includes local community engagement in its reviews.
Some California legislators have attempted to pass legislation to overturn the CEC’s authority over those approvals.
“The Opt-In Certification programme proves that California can permit critical clean energy infrastructure fast while maintaining rigorous environmental review, public transparency, tribal consultation and community engagement,” CEC commissioner Noemi Gallardo said.
Clearway’s Potentia-Viridi is the third to have gained approval through the programme.
Potentia-Viridi’s original developers, Capstone Infrastructure and Eurowind Energy, submitted the project to the Commission in August 2024 via their 50:50 joint venture (JV) Levy Alameda, LLC, as reported by ESN Premium in October of that year.
