Power Grid Summer Reliability Strengthened with New Luna Battery Storage Facility

The 100 MW/400 MWh Luna Battery Storage Project is now operational and providing energy to Clean Power Alliance customers while strengthening grid reliability.

This new standalone energy storage facility located in the city of Lancaster, 50 miles north of Los Angeles, serves as an essential component of CPA’s renewable energy strategy and as a key offering to Los Angeles County and Ventura County customers by enabling the power grid to match natural changes in the supply and demand of electricity. AES Corporation, one of the world’s largest electricity generating and distribution companies, is the developer and operator of the Luna project.

Luna allows us to reduce the potential grid instability during sustained high-temperature weather events, as California has experienced in recent years.

As energy prices are at their highest point in the evening when usage rates are high and solar generation falls when the sun goes down, fossil fuel generation is often used to meet peak demand, increasing customers costs, while simultaneously increasing greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollutants. Luna allows CPA to provide stored energy to local communities during precisely these moments.

“CPA is proud to partner with AES on the Luna storage project to bring a critical resource online in time to meet California’s grid reliability needs this summer,” said Natasha Keefer, Vice President of Power Supply at Clean Power Alliance. “The Luna project demonstrates CPA’s leadership in storage investment and our commitment to meeting our customers’ clean energy needs. This resource will capture renewable energy during the day when solar is plentiful and send clean energy back to the grid during times of peak demand. Luna is one of many innovative resources in which CPA is investing to help Southern California transition to a clean energy future.”

Luna’s 100MW of lithium-ion batters provide enough energy to power roughly 75,000 Southern California homes for four hours and is now CPA’s third standalone storage project, in addition to the Johanna ESS Energy Storage Facility in Santa Ana and the Edwards Sanborn Storage II Facility in Kern County.

Sergei Kotsan

Sergei Kotsan serves the Energy Risk Manager for Clean Power Alliance. He has over a decade of experience working on quantitative research and modelling of the wholesale power markets as well as hedging commercial risk and market monitoring. He led commercial operations at TexGen and fundamentals research at Talen Energy on the power supply side. He also has utility experience at Portland General Electric and Pacific Gas and Electric evaluating market risks and financial valuation on the demand side. In addition, he worked at the Market Monitoring Unit at CAISO, developing dashboards and preparing market reports. Sergei holds Ph.D. in Economics from West Virginia University.

Rachel Allred

Rachel serves as Project Manager, Settlements for Clean Power Alliance. Rachel is responsible for reviewing and identifying discrepancies with our California Independent System Operator (CASIO) and bilateral counterparty invoices, validating transactions of wholesale market products, and performing after the fact analysis on settlements and Congestion Revenue Rights (CRR) to influence resource optimization and CRR strategies. Prior to joining Clean Power Alliance, Rachel served as a Power Settlements Analyst at Utah Municipal Power Agency for two years where she developed and finalized all settlement processes. Rachel earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Lewis-Clark State College.

Riju Mondal

Riju serves as the Website Developer, Communications and Marketing at CPA. He brings over 10 years of software development experience in addition to having a strong background in information technology and server infrastructure. Riju oversees all web related functions at CPA to ensure that the organization is able to effectively sustain meeting the requirements of its rapidly growing digital presence. Prior to joining CPA, Riju worked as a digital content developer at Claremont Graduate University where he developed and launched an online learning platform for the federally funded POLARIS mentoring program for museum professionals. More recently, Riju founded and operated a web development and digital marketing agency which served government organizations, non-profits, and other multi agency partners. Riju holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems & E-Business from Cal Poly Pomona. Riju supports CPA’s overall goal and mission to a cleaner, brighter future.

Jacob Adamson

Jacob Adamson is an Analyst, Data and Systems, at Clean Power Alliance (CPA), where he collaborates with the Data and Systems team to develop and maintain robust data analytics frameworks. Jacob supports cross-functional departments in data enablement and business intelligence, focusing on automating reporting tasks and assisting staff with data requests. With a background in engineering, information technology, regulatory analysis, and data analytics, Jacob brings a wealth of expertise to CPA’s work in the renewable energy sector. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, is a former licensed professional engineer in the state of Colorado, and is a GCP certified professional data engineer. Outside of work, Jacob is passionate about outdoor recreation, conservation, and engineering sustainable community development.

Ammad Mansoor

Ammad serves as the Analyst, Strategic Finance at CPA. He comes to CPA with 3 years of prior experience in financial planning and analysis. Ammad most recently served as a Financial Analyst at Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of the Southern Company. In this role, he supported various areas in the Customer Experience division where he ensured timely and accurate financial reporting, conducted monthly expense forecasting, and created 5-year budgets with the approval of the Georgia PSC. He also sat on the 2024 Budget Committee where he contributed to developing guidelines for the company’s budgeting process and identifying areas for cost savings. Ammad earned his Bachelor’s in Finance from the University of Central Florida.