The California Energy Commission is preparing to approve a third amendment to its agreement with Form Energy that would cut state funding by $8.33 million and shrink a Mendocino Substation long-duration energy storage demonstration by one-third, according to the commission’s Sept. 9 meeting packet.
The packet says amendment 3 to agreement LDS-22-004 would reduce the commission’s grant from $25 million to $16,666,667 and scale the project down from 1.5 megawatts and 150 megawatt-hours to 1.0 megawatt and 100 megawatt-hours. The project remains a demonstration at PG&E’s Mendocino Substation.
The commission packet also says staff would adopt CEQA findings tied to the amendment and rely on the prior environmental review for the project, with no new environmental impacts expected beyond the 2023 initial study and mitigated negative declaration.
The materials do not explain why the project is being reduced, and the vote line in the packet appears blank, so the final outcome should be confirmed in meeting minutes or a transcript.
